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The Robbers Cave Experiment: Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation. [Orig. pub. as Intergroup Conflict and Group Relations]

Book
Muzafer Sherif
2012
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Originally issued in 1954 and updated in 1961 and 1987, this pioneering study of "small group" conflict and cooperation has long been out-of-print. It is now available, in cloth and paper, with a new introduction by Donald Campbell, and a new postscript by O.J. Harvey.

In this famous experiment, one of the earliest in inter-group relationships, two dozen twelve-year-old boys in summer camp were formed into two groups, the Rattlers and the Eagles, and induced first to become militantly ethnocentric, then intensely cooperative. Friction and stereotyping were stimulated by a tug-of-war, by frustrations perceived to be caused by the "out" group, and by separation from the others. Harmony was stimulated by close contact between previously hostile groups and by the introduction of goals that neither group could meet alone. The experiment demonstrated that conflict and enmity between groups can be transformed into cooperation and vice versa and that circumstances, goals, and external manipulation can alter behavior.

Some have seen the findings of the experiment as having implications for reduction of hostility among racial and ethnic groups and among nations, while recognizing the difficulty of control of larger groups.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page, Copyright

Contents

pp. v-vii

Illustrations

pp. ix

Tables

pp. xi

Introduction to the Wesleyan Edition

pp. xiii-xxi

Preface to the Wesleyan Edition

pp. xxiii-xxv

Preface to the Instituteof Group Relations Editions

pp. xxvii-xxxi

1. Integrating Field Work and Laboratory in Small Group Research

pp. 3-23

2. Approach, Hypotheses, and General Design of the Study

pp. 24-49

3. Role of Staff; Subject Selection; Experimental Site

pp. 50-62

4. Experimental Formation of Ingroups

pp. 63-95

5. Intergroup Relations: Production of Negative Attitudes Toward the Outgroup

pp. 96-119

6. Intergroup Relations: Assessment of Ingroup Functioning and Negative Attitudes Toward the Outgroup

pp. 120-149

7. Intergroup Relations: Reducing Friction

pp. 150-198

8. Summary and Conclusions

pp. 199-214

References

pp. 215-220

Index

pp. 221-229
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