13 Conflict and Peacemaking

8/10/2019 13 Conflict and Peacemaking

1/24

Social Psychology

Chapter 13: Conflict & Peacemaking

Conflict: A perceived incompatibility of actions

or goals.

Peace: A condition marked by low levels of

hostility and aggression and by mutually

beneficial relationships.

What creates conflict?

How can peace be achieved?


2/24

What Creates Conflicts?

Social Dilemmas

Social Trap: A situation in which the conflictingparties, by each rationally pursuing its own self-

interest, become caught in mutually destructive

behavior. Prisoners Dilemma

Tragedy of the Commons

Non-Zero-Sum Games: Games in which theoutcomes need not sum to zero. With

cooperation, both can win; with competition,

both can lose.


3/24


A Taxonomy of Traps

Traps(sins of commission)occur when we takepotentially harmful courses of action.

Countertraps(sins of omission) arise when we

avoid potentially beneficial behavior. Five types of traps which all have

corresponding countertraps:

Time delay traps

Ignorance traps Investment traps

Deterioration traps

Collective traps


4/24


Time Delay Traps

Momentary gratification clashes with long term

consequences.

Trap: We choose something pleasant at the

moment even though it is bad in the long run.

Countertrap: We avoid things that are

unpleasant at the moment even though they are

better in the long run.


5/24


Ignorance Traps

The negative consequences of a behavior are

not understood.

Trap: We choose to do something pleasant at

the moment w/o knowing it is bad for us in the

long run.

Countertrap: We avoid doing things which are

unpleasant at the moment because we do not

realize they are good for us in the long run.


6/24


Investment Traps

Occur when prior expenditures of time, money,or other resources lead people to make choices

they would not otherwise make.

Trap: We choose to continue pursue something

we know is wrong because we already

invested in it. Countertrap: We avoid starting a new thing we

realize is better because we have invested so

much in something else.


7/24


Deterioration Traps

Occur when initially rewarding courses of action

gradually become less reinforcing or more

punishing.

Trap: We continue to do something which was

good, but is now no longer good.

Countertrap: We fail to begin doing something

which is now good, because it used to be bad.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=tam


8/24


Collective Traps

The pursuit of individual self interest results inadverse consequences for the collective.

Trap: We perform actions beneficial to our owninterests even though they have negativeconsequences for the collective.

Countertrap: We fail to do things which aredifficult for us even though the consequences tothe collective are negative.

C C f ?


9/24


Social Dilemmas

The Prisoners Dilemma

Everyone wins if everyone

trusts.

Because neither trusts the

other, the most common

outcome is both confessing.

Set up by lawyers to get a

double confession.

Wh C C fli ?


10/24


Social Dilemmas

The Prisoners Dilemma

Wh t C t C fli t ?


11/24


Social Dilemmas

How Much Would You Pay for a Dollar?

Players auction for a dollar.

No communication allowed between bidders.

Bids are made in multiples of 5c The two highest bidders must both pay what

they bid, even though the dollar only goes to

the highest bidder.

Wh t C t C fli t ?


12/24


Social Dilemmas

The Tragedy of the Commons

Tragedy of the Commons: The commons is anyshared resource, including air, water, energy sources,and food supplies. The tragedy occurs whenindividuals consume more than their share, with thecost of their doing so dispersed among all, causing theultimate collapsethe tragedyof the commons.

An individual does whatever is in their own bestinterest event though it makes the collective suffer.

Wh t C t C fli t ?


13/24


Social Dilemmas

Resolving Social Dilemmas

Regulation

Small is beautiful

Communication

Changing the payoffs

For that which is common to the greatest number has the least

care bestowed upon it.

Aristotle


14/24


Competition

Competition kindles conflict.

Two groups of boys created who called

themselves the Eagles and the Rattlers

Set up to like each other.

Competition introduced

Conflict resulted


15/24


Perceived Injustice

inputsYour

outcomesYour

inputsMy

outcomesMy

Equity is achieved if I perceive that:

However, very competent or worthy people

value their inputs more, thus making a balance

almost impossible.


16/24


Misperception

White reviewed ten

wars from the last

century and found at

least one of thefollowing every time

underestimating the

enemys strength

overestimating the

leaders power

rationalizing ones own

motives

Conflict is aperceived

incompatibility of actions or

goals.

Wh t C t C fli t ?


17/24


Misperception

Mirror-Image Perceptions

Mirror-Image Perceptions: Reciprocal views of

each other often held by parties in conflict; for

example, each may view itself as moral andpeace-loving and the other as evil and

aggressive.


18/24

How Can Peace be Achieved?

Four Cs of peacemaking Contactwell never know them if we dont

talk to them.

Cooperation

Communication

Conciliation

H C P b A hi d?


19/24


Contact

Does Desegregation Improve Racial Attitudes?

Equal-Status Contact:

Contact on an equal

basis. Just as a

relationship between

people of unequal statusbreeds attitudes

consistent with their

relationship, so do

relationships betweenthose of equal status.

Thus, to reduce prejudice,

interracial contact should

be between people of

equal status.

H C P b A hi d?


20/24


Cooperation

Common external threats build cohesiveness.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Superordinate Goal: A shared goal that necessitates

cooperative effort; a goal that overrides peoples

differences from one another. Group identities lead to peace.


21/24


Communication

In laboratory dilemma games, cooperation is

much more likely if the players can talk with

each other.

Allows for the buildup of trust which is

necessary.

In laboratory dilemma games (as in real conflicts)there is a real penalty if you cooperate and the

other party defects!


22/24


Communication

Bargaining: Seeking an agreement to a conflictthrough direct negotiation between parties.

Mediation: An attempt by a neutral third party to

resolve a conflict by facilitating communicationand offering suggestions.


23/24


Communication

Arbitration: Resolution of a conflict by a neutral thirdparty who studies both sides and imposes asettlement. The Peoples Court with Judge Joe Wapner!!!

Integrative Agreements: Win-win agreements thatreconcile both parties interests to their mutual benefit.

Two sisters quarreled over an orange, they finally agreed toeach take half.

One sister took her half and squeezed it to make juice,throwing out the peel.

The other sister took her half and peeled it, using the peel to

make a cake.

H C P b A hi d?


24/24


Conciliation

GRIT

GRIT(Graduated Reciprocated Initiatives inTension Reduction): A strategy designed todeescalate international tensions.

Conciliatory, yet strong enough to discourageexploitation.

One side announces recognition of mutualinterests and initiates a small conciliatory act.

This opens the door for reciprocation by other

party

Documents

13 Conflict and Peacemaking