Doctoral Dissertation Research: Intergroup Conflict and Emerging Social Structure

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SES-0526214Michael MacyStephen BenardCornell UniversityWhile groups in conflict sometimes peacefully resolve their disputes, conflict is often surprisingly durable, given the costs of conflict and the benefits of peace. Previous experimental research aimed at uncovering the mechanisms underlying conflict shows a tendency for conflict to diminish over time. These findings do not explain the apparent intractability of many well-known conflicts. This project seeks to answer that question by beginning with the observation that a group's ability further or reduce conflict depends on the ability of the group to enforce norms among its members. Specifically, convincing displays of aggression require a majority of group members to display a willingness to fight while convincing displays of pacifism are quickly undermined by a few aggressive group members. This research links social norms to conflict between groups. The co-PI hypothesizes that during conflict individuals become more likely to negatively evaluate and sanction members of their group who do not contribute to the conflict. This greater willingness to punish non-contributors leads to higher levels of contribution to the group during conflict. As a result, group conflict and social norms become self-reinforcing: conflict promotes the emergence of norms, while norms heighten the intensity of conflict. The investigator will conduct a laboratory experiment in which teams of players interact over a computer network. The teams play games with incentives structures designed to mirror those observed in real-life conflicts. The teams will be manipulated to play the games in conflict with another team (the conflict condition) or interact with their own team members only (the no-conflict condition). Participants make decisions about contributing to or withdrawing from the conflict, and whether to negatively sanction group members who choose not to contribute to the conflict. Broader Impact. The research contributes to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying group conflict, and thereby could possibly be used to develop new strategies for conflict resolution. The project will contribute to training undergraduate research assistants, developing new software for experimental settings, and support for the University's graduate program.