Group competition breeds prejudice while cooperative interdependence reduces bias

Evidence

The importance of functional relations between groups was already well established by the work of Sherif (e.g., Sherif et al., 1961) and others at the time that The Nature of Prejudice was produced. In a series of studies beginning in 1949, including the classic Robber’s Cave experiment, Sherif and his colleagues demonstrated that functional relations between groups are critical in determining intergroup attitudes. In particular, competition between groups produces prejudice and discrimination, whereas intergroup interdependence and successful cooperative interaction reduce intergroup bias. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1483

Categorization

• XREF: Provides the Robber’s Cave empirical anchor that contact theory’s cooperative-interaction condition derives from — relevant to the vault’s contact-theory claims. — connects to: Envied outgroups provoke prejudice precisely because competence implies control over competitive threat. — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 258; Status and competition jointly explain divergent forms of prejudice — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 307; Poor economic conditions amplify bias toward large minority groups. — Blake M. Riek, Eric W. Mania, and Samuel L. Gaertner, Intergroup Threat and Outgroup…, 29