Chester Insko, Ph.D. - US grants

Since the time of Plato, it has been observed that joining groups leads individuals to think and act more poorly, often in destructive ways. By the 20th century, such prominent social scientists as LeBon (1893), McDougall (1920), and Freud (1922) debated the causes of why decent persons behave badly when banded together. During the past two decades, research has increasingly focused on between group interactions. It has shown that interacting groups consistently act in more competitive ways than do interacting individuals, even when cooperation would be more productive. This phenomenon has been shown even in the most minimal social situations, when temporary groups have been formed for dealing with inconsequential matters. The present research will test whether the primary reason that interacting groups behave destructively toward one another is that the presence of an "outgroup" raises negative expectations about exploitation and thus produces lack of trust. To explore these questions, experiments will systematically lower threat and reasons for mistrust; for example, alternatives that assure non- exploitation and the maintenance of own-group power will be explored. It is expected that such manipulations will decrease the frequency of destructive behavior. If this occurs, the research has important implications for understanding cross-group hostility and rejection of outgroups, both within and between cultures.

This proposal seeks to investigate an interesting and robust phenomenon of group interaction, the "discontinuity effect." This effect refers to the fact that people interacting as group members are consistently more competitive than when acting alone. A number of interesting possibilities will be tested in this series of laboratory investigations, most of which make use of variables with considerable real-world impact. In one of the studies, for example, the racial composition of the group members will be studied. In another study, the effects of greed and fear are studied in the group or individual allocation of resources. The theoretical and practical implications of the work are interesting and valuable. The investigators are first rate, and well known for their important contributions to this area. As such, the project shows every sign of providing an important contribution to knowledge of the actions of individuals in groups.

9408760 Insko ABSTRACT This program of studies addresses the classical issue of understanding the psychological consequences that occur when someone is behaving as part of a group as compared to behaving as an individual. Using a mixed-motive paradigm and face-to-face interaction, the PIs have previously established a reliable discontinuity. That is, repeated interactions of two people are typically characterized by high rates of cooperation, whereas group on group interactions typically produce high rates of competition. Such discontinuity occurs even though competition yields worse results than mutual cooperation. The past research has provided evidence that such discontinuity between interindividual and intergroup behavior is a very robust phenomenon. It is explained partially by the greater tendency of groups than individuals to distrust, or fear, each other and partially by the fact that group members can provide each other with social support for acting in a self-interested, or greedy, manner whereas individuals have no way of obtaining such social support. The present research has three foci which will identify: (1) ways in which discontinuity can be reduced, by increasing the cooperativeness of intergroup interactions, (2) individual cognitive processes that support discontinuity, and (3) situational characteristics relating to the outcome domain that is a necessary condition for the occurrence of discontinuity. The violent resolution of intergroup conflict has plagued the world for all of known history, and continues to this day. Witness, for example, the intergroup conflicts in Bosnia and Rwanda. The major focus of the proposed research is to identify ways to decrease the competitiveness that is more characteristic of intergroup relations than of interindividual relations. Past research has demonstrated that such discontinuity between groups and individuals is explained partially by the greater tendency of grou ps than individuals to distrust, or fear, each other and partially by the fact that group members can provide each other with social support for acting in a self-interested manner. The proposed research will attempt to identify ways of reducing this discontinuity. Although a research tradition exists for reducing the consequences of intergroup conflict by "decategorizing" the participants' group affiliations, it is often not feasible or even desirable to do this. Instead, cooperation between intact groups will be induced by interventions that increase trust without increasing vulnerability and that make group's more aware of the long-term consequences of their actions. In order to understand the conditions of applicability, the proposed research will also attempt to identify the reasons for the distrust between members of different groups, and the characteristic of the social setting that is a necessary condition for the occurrence of discontinuity. If the research is successful it will be possible to specify the conditions under which discontinuity will occur and the methods by which it can be reduced.

The violent resolution of intergroup conflict has plagued the world for all of known history. The major focus of this proposed research is identifying ways to increase cooperativeness in intergroup interactions. By contrasting the consequences that occur when someone is behaving as part of a group, compared to behaving as an individual, our previous research established a clear discontinuity. That is, using a mixed-motive paradigm and face-to-face interaction, repeated group or group interactions typically produce high rates of competition, while interactions of two people from these groups are typically characterized by high rates of cooperation. Such discontinuity occurs even though competition yields worse results than does mutual cooperation. Existing evidence indicates that such discontinuity is a very robust phenomenon. It is explained partially by the greater tendency of groups than individuals to distrust, or fear, each either and partially by the fact that group members can provide each other with social support for acting in a self- interested, or greedy manner, while individuals have no way of obtaining such social support. The proposed research has four foci. The first two involve attempts to reduce the magnitude of the discontinuity effect by: (1) providing evidence for the importance of a concern for future consequences and (2) increasing the salience of a common, ingroup identity. Third, in order to expand the ecological validity of our research program, we wish to initiate a series of studies investigating the consequences of mixed-motive interactions for disputants possessing unequal amounts of interpersonal power. Fourth, in order to better understand the conditions of applicability, the proposed research will also attempt to further validate the theoretical bases for the discontinuity effect. If the research is successful it will be possible to specify conditions under which discontinuity will occur and some of the methods by which it can be reduced.