Attempts to eliminate intergroup competition feed back and can fuel further conflict.

Evidence

Finally, as illustrated by the outer arrows in figure 14.1, our model is cyclical and iterative. Attempts to eliminate group competition may feed back to the ideologies and situational factors that initially elicited the competition. For example, outgroup derogation, ingroup enhancement, and avoidance may reinforce ideologies of group dominance and strengthen the perceived “correctness” of one’s worldview, increasing the likelihood of further perceptions of competition. In terms of situational factors, however, successful attempts to eliminate competition may increase the stability of the system and reduce challenges to the status quo, so that situational factors promoting group competition no longer operate. Thus, as a result of mutual effects of group ideologies and situational factors, further group competition may be promoted or attenuated. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1511

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Co-optation reforms can backfire by fueling the resistance they aim to defuse — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 547