Intragroup solidarity and intergroup hostility mutually reinforce each other

Evidence

Sherif and colleagues made two other important observations. First, they noted that intergroup competition increased morale, cohesiveness, and cooperation within each group, suggesting that intragroup cooperation and intergroup competition are two sides of the same coin (see replication by Blake & Mouton, 1962). Second, they found that creating a situation of interdependence by giving both groups a shared superordinate task (like fixing their broken down means of transportation) served to decrease competition and to increase cooperation across group boundaries. Just as competition creates conflict, cooperation breeds liking. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 136

Categorization

• XREF: The ingroup-outgroup solidarity/competition pairing resonates with the Sherif work and the strategic-essentialism question of whether collective identity formation inherently requires an outgroup. — connects to: Intergroup competition selects prosocial norms that can simultaneously dehumanize outsiders. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 558; Symmetric violence war zones retain intergroup friendship and helping acts. — Sandra Penic, Guy Elcheroth, and Dario Spini, When Is Collective Exposure to War…, 153; Social harmony and redressing historical injustice can coexist through equal-power intergroup contact. — Nurit Shnabel and Johannes Ullrich, Identity Needs in Intergroup Relations:…, 111 (+1 more)