Realistic conflict Theory

• One strength of realistic conflict theory is that Sherif found creating competition between the rattlers and eagles was enough to cause prejudice such as name calling. This is a strength as it shows prejudice is caused by competition between groups.
• Another limitation of realistic conflict theory is that it doesn't explain why some people are more susceptible than others to becoming prejudiced when there is competition between two groups.
• A weakness of realistic conflict theory is that it only explains intergroup prejudice, not intragroup prejudice (prejudice within one group).
• Another strength of realistic conflict theory is that ember and ember found that in some tribal societies threat of natural disasters and food shortages correlated with inter group hostility. This supports realistic conflict theory as it shows people may go to war to compete for scarce resources such as land or food.
• One weakness of Realistic conflict theory is that Levine found that football fans are more likely to help an injured stranger when wearing colours of the team they supported (in group) as opposed to neutral or those of a rival team (out group). This shows competition isn’t always necessary to create prejudice and belonging to a group is enough.
• Competition in any form is needed for conflict to occur between groups in society. It is fiercer when there can only be one winner for example a trophy.
• Groups compete for limited scarce resources such as food, money, land. The scarcer the resource the more conflict will occur.
• Scapegoating can occur when one group are blamed for all the faults in society.
• Superordinate goals can be used to reduce conflict between groups as they are mutually desirable goals that need intergroup cooperation to be achieved so that everyone benefits.