A Model of Escalation in Social Exchange

这个研究项目涉及冲突的升级。小的侮辱可能导致更大的侮辱，从小事件来回升级为大悲剧。 例如，在90年代，东海岸和西海岸嘻哈场景之间的竞争始于一首“diss曲目”，这首歌将说唱歌手从另一个“场景”中分离出来，并在十年结束时升级为几起未解决的谋杀案。离婚父母之间关于子女监护权的分歧往往会升级为重大的法律的斗争，使子女受到创伤，耗尽双方的经济资源，损害他们的身心健康。社会交换的升级是许多人际、群体间和国际冲突的常见和核心。 它还对社会成员的身心健康构成重大风险，不仅因为个人和群体之间的直接攻击和暴力行为，而且因为它造成的生理痛苦。该研究项目有两个广泛的目标：首先，该项目致力于了解负面升级背后的心理原因、加剧负面升级的因素以及助长负面升级的情况。第二，该项目将利用对冲突升级原因的更深入了解，确定预防和化解冲突升级的新方法。该项目开发了一种社会行动理论，解释了为什么负交换会升级。它假设行动者和反应者对同一行动的系统性感知不同，这种差异直接导致升级。该理论还提出了打破消极升级恶性循环的新方法。研究人员将在八个实验中测试这一理论，每个实验都应该提供关于缓解升级方式的不同见解。 这个研究项目有望给社会带来巨大的利益。 社会关系的质量是身心健康的核心，不断升级的冲突是一个主要的社会压力源。升级发生在社会组织的各个层面，从个人到对感知到的冒犯做出反应的国际侵略行为。 因此，该研究项目可能会产生重大的科学影响，并对个人和社会的福利产生重大影响。

This research project concerns the escalation of conflict. Small insults can lead to larger insults, escalating back and forth from minor events into major tragedies. In the nineties, for instance, rivalry between the East-Coast and West-Coast hip hop scenes started with a "diss track," a song that disparaged rappers from the other "scene," and escalated by the end of the decade to several unsolved murders. Child-custody disagreements between divorcing parents often escalate to major legal battles that traumatize the children, deplete the financial resources of the parties, and damage their mental and physical health. Escalation in social exchange is common and central to many interpersonal, intergroup, and international conflicts. It also presents a significant physical and mental health risk to members of society, not only by the direct acts of aggression and violence between individuals and groups, but also by the physiological distress it creates. This research project has two broad goals: First, the project is dedicated to understanding the psychological causes behind negative escalation, the factors that exacerbate it and the situations that nurture such escalation. Second, the project will use the deeper understanding of the causes of escalation to identify novel ways to prevent and defuse conflict escalation. The project develops a theory of social action that explains why negative exchange escalates. It assumes that actors and reactors perceive the same action systematically differently, and that this difference leads directly to escalation. The theory also suggests novel ways that the vicious cycle of negative escalation could be broken. The researchers will test the theory in eight experiments, each of which should provide different insights about way to defuse escalation. This research project promises substantial benefits to society. The quality of social relationships is central to physical and mental health, with escalating conflict serving as a major social stressor. Escalation occurs at all levels of social organization, from individuals to international acts of aggression in reaction to a perceived offense. The research project is therefore likely to have substantial scientific impact, as well as significant implications for the welfare of individuals and society.