realistic conflict theory

• suggests that the presence of another group will lead to conflict if they have conflicting goals or competition over limited resources, this can lead to negative stereotyping and discrimination
• put forward by Sherif
• prejudice is more likely if the resource is finite, such as territory, this is called zero-sum
• when feelings in a group intensify and prejudice arises and groups fight for what they see as scarce resources, this can become ethnocentrism,
• superordinate goals are a solution to competition causing prejudice
• what are superordinate goals?

  goals that can only be achieved through teamwork
• realistic conflict is thought to arise between two groups only when they are of equal status, Duckitt (1994) thought that conflict would arise even if groups are of unequal status and prejudice would come from in-group and out-group behaviour
• out-group threatens the in-group for resources
• research to support realistic conflict theory

  from Filindra and Pearson-Merkowitz (2013) found that a perceived increase in the presence of immigrants in a New England community did correlate with a more restrictive immigration policy, though this was only the case in times of economic hardship, supports the idea that prejudice is more likely to occur with finite resources
• issue with Filindra and Pearson-Merkowitz

  study has low generalisability as the findings were only found in new england can't be generalised to other communities
• how does sherif support?

  supports the effectiveness of superordinate goals reducing prejudice, when the boys had to work together to fix the water source that was destroyed by vandals they worked together well
• conflicting evidence against sherif

  Tyerman and Spencer who replicated sherif found that English boy scouts remained friendly throughout depsite competition, this shows that sherif lacks reliability
• alternate theory

  social identity theory