Prejudice and Intergroup Relations

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Conflicts of interest between groups oftentimes results in prejudice and social discrimination towards the competing outgroup due to the fact that such conflicts lead to intergroup threat. Realistic-group conflict theory is used to provide an explanation for prejudice, in which it explains that “competition over scarce resources leads to intergroup hostility and conflict,” (Baumeister & Bushman, p. 413, 2008). According to this theory, groups should have the most negative attitudes towards their rivals when resources are scarce and groups must compete for them. To sum this view up, one can view competition between groups as “a zero-sum game in which one side’s gain is the other side’s frustration,” (Baumeister & Bushman, p. 414, 2008). Although much research has been conducted in determining the outcome of conflicts between competing groups, little research has been conducted in determining the outcome of competition and the prejudice that follows for those groups whom are not directly involved in the competition itself. According to Sassenberg, Moskowitz, Jacoby and Hansen (2007), mindset priming, furthermore the carry-over effect of competition, has led them to hypothesize that competition does lead to an increase in prejudice regardless of whether the derogated outgroup is involved in the competition or not. The carry-over effect of competition suggests that perceiving a conflict or a competition is sufficient for an increase in prejudice to occur. Sassenberg et al (2007) demonstrated that both recollection of a competition from memory and participation in a competition led to higher levels of prejudice towards outgroups who were not directly involved in the competition. Sassenberg et al (2007) also concluded that when explaining the carry-over effect of competition in regards to a competition mindset (the mere activation of competition in thought or memory), all leads to “similar effects as real competition, thus indicating that a competition can result in carry-over effects,” (p. 530). Both the recollection of a competition from memory and participation in a competition leads to higher levels of prejudice towards outgroups that are not directly involved in competition. Sassenberg et al (2007) have tried to make a connection between carry-over effects trying to define them as displaced aggression, but “the carry-over effect of competition is conceptually different from displaced aggression,” (p. 536). The carry-over effect fits most features which define displaced aggression as: “a negative act towards an uninvolved target incommensurately exceeding what is ordinarily seen as justified behavior towards the uninvolved target after the failure to respond to the originator of the negative affect,” (Sassenberg et al., p. 530, 2007).

But in opposition to this view, Sassenberg and his colleagues (2007) were not able to demonstrate the frustration initiated in one context leading to the displaced aggression initiated in another context. Realistic group conflict theory stresses “the importance of the perception of a conflict, as compared to real conflict, for the emergence of prejudice,” (Sassenberg et al., p. 537, 2007). The carry-over effect of competition merely is the starting point in helping individuals understand exactly why prejudice arises and what should be done to decrease it. Increased prejudice and negative interdependence arise when perceived competition of any sort is experienced or remembered, even competition with an individual or group irrelevant to the intergroup context. Being that we live in a Western free market economy society in which children learn to compete as early as school age, one must take into account the prejudice experienced in everyday life. The triggering of competition mindsets and carry-over effects increases prejudice. Given the frequency of involvement in competition, the demonstration of competition mindsets and carry-over effects of competition, may contribute to a better understanding of prejudice and what may be done to help prevent it.