Disadvantages Of In-Group Conflict Theory

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In our diverse society, there are many examples of intergroup conflict between individuals of different ethnic back grounds. According to the realistic group conflict theory, individuals who are competing for the same resources are going to exhibit increased levels of intergroup conflict. This intergroup conflict influences individuals to feel solidarity for members of their own group, but results with increasing negative attitudes towards individuals of other competing groups (Kenrick, Neuberg, & Cialdini, 2010). In-group bias is the tendency to benefit members of one’s own groups over members of other groups (Kenrick, Neuberg, & Cialdini, 2010). This is where discrimination occurs and individuals might refuse to give resources to another …show more content…
People who come from stigmatized racial groups can be put at a major disadvantage if they are receiving fewer resources from their place of employment or other social institutions because their group membership is in competition with their supervisors group. According to the realistic group conflict theory, intergroup conflict is a natural process when two groups’ are competing for the same resources (Kenrick, Neuberg, & Cialdini, 2010). Additionally, these intergroup conflicts not only cause individuals to develop strong feeling of dislike and prejudice towards other groups, but it also creates feeling of solidarity with members of their own group (Kenrick, Neuberg, & Cialdini, 2010). Since the current political climate causes most individuals to hide their prejudice and deny any individual dislike towards a specific group, it is important to find a method which causes individuals to implicitly display and act on their biases. This is where the dictator game would be used to assess the amount of pro-social behavior a participants displays for individuals of opposing group membership. Altruism would be measured by the amount of money the dictator decided to split between an individual of similar racial makeup and an individual with ethnic membership to an out

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