The Cave of Thieves Experiment

1031
Jonah Lester
The Cave of Thieves Experiment

Social psychology experiments give us very useful information about the behavior of individuals. One of the most interesting is the so-called Robbers Cave Experiment. Let's see better what it is about.

Contents

  • Investigating how the group works
  • Basis of the experiment
  • Phases of the experiment
    • First phase
    • Second stage
    • Third phase
    • Conclusions
    • References

Investigating how the group works

The Thieves' Cave experiment is a classic in the field of social psychology. This studied and analyzed the relations of belonging to a group, the relations of not belonging to a group and the intergroup relations.

Therefore, the experiment starts from the concept of the group and how people tend to behave being inside or outside of it. He also analyzed the relationships established within said group.

The social psychologist Muzafer Sherif was the one who carried out the study, observing the conflicts and differences that arose between two groups and analyzing the process of cooperation and integration of two groups that are in conflict and have to understand each other..

Researchers launched into this study out of their fascination with the group concept. To better understand this, we can define what is considered a group, as it is important to better understand the conclusions of the study.

The group can be defined as a basic social unit between people. The union can be of many types and the number of members can also vary. What unites them above all is that they share a set of norms and values ​​that regulate their own behavior and that of the different members..

In this sense, the role relationship comes into play. That is, the role that each of the members plays in this group and their level with respect to the rest. This role refers to the behavior guidelines that the group imposes and expects from the individual in a given situation..

Basis of the experiment

This research was carried out in an outdoor space owned by the Boy Scouts, surrounded by the Robber's Cave State Park in the state of Oklahoma..

During the study, Sherif was introduced as a field guard. The study team consisted of a group of 22 11-year-old male adolescents with a similar life experience. The boys were transported to the scene by buses in two groups of eleven people. Neither group knew of the other's existence. The boys were assigned in two areas quite far from each other, so that for the first few days the presence of the 'others' was ignored. The researchers had cut off all pre-existing friendship ties from each group, so that each boy's identification with his new group could be done more quickly..

The chocs themselves chose their group name, some called themselves "The Rattlers", the others "The Eagles". After two or three days, the two groups spontaneously developed internal social hierarchies.

The Thieves' Cave experiment consisted of three phases. The first of these is the formation of belonging, which consists of creating this feeling of belonging between groups through activities that encourage members to identify with it..

The second phase is that of friction. For this, some type of conflict is generated between two groups already formed during the experiment and some tension is also created within the group itself, that is, at the intergroup level..

Finally, the third phase is that of integration. What is sought in this phase is to bring together the two groups that were in conflict to try to cooperate in some activity and to achieve a joint objective.

Neither of the boys knew each other before the experiment, but hostility was quickly observed between the groups. This hostility increased to the point where the study team ceased friction production activities due to the danger involved..

Phases of the experiment

First phase

As we have already said, at the start of the experiment there were 22 11-year-old children with similar socioeconomic characteristics, without problems in their family structure, who were divided into two groups without any of them knowing about the existence of the other..

In the first phase they were urged to strengthen ties. For this, they carried out joint activities and signs of identity were established, such as flags, t-shirts and a name for their own group..

Second stage

In the second phase, the friction phase, both groups were allowed to find out about the existence of the other group. They did this through competitive activities, which caused the children to come into conflict with those of the other group..

The result was that incidents occurred between them, since a strong feeling of violence and rejection towards the other group was unleashed. Once this phase was completed, the next stage began, that of integration.

Third phase

Here is the most important part of the study, since the objective was to see how the process of reducing group tensions took place. This was achieved and a relationship of interdependence was established between the members of both groups..

To decrease friction and promote unity between the groups, Sherif devised and introduced tasks that required cooperation between the two. The proposed challenges included a water shortage problem, a stuck field truck needing, and finding a movie to show. These and other necessary collaborations caused hostile behavior to decline. The groups became intertwined to the point that at the end of the experiment the boys insisted on going home all on the same bus..

Conclusions

This study shows the ease with which hostility can be formed between and within groups and is one of the most cited in the history of social psychology.

Thanks to this experiment, several observations could be established. One of them, in the first phase, it was possible to see how structures are formed and how each person acquires a role in a given group.

In the friction phase, the strength of stereotypes, belonging to a group and how a social distance is established with another group that is not considered equal was observed. In the last part it was possible to see how the groups tend to cooperate to achieve a superordinate objective.

In other words, the Thieves' Cave researchers were able to see how by establishing common problems and goals, a way of resolving conflicts between groups could be established. From there, they developed the theory of realist conflict.

In short, the Thieves' Cave experiment is very useful to understand and analyze the relationships of belonging to a group, the relationships of not belonging to a group and the intergroup relationships. We hope this information has made everything clearer!!

References

Sherif, M. (1954). Experimental study of positive and negative intergroup attitudes between experimentally produced groups: study of robbers' caves.

Sherif, M., Harvey, OJ, White, BJ, Hood, WR, and Sherif, CW (1961). Conflict and Cooperation Between Groups: The Thieves' Cave Experiment (Vol. 10) Norman, OK: Book Exchange University.

McLeod, SA (2008). Cave of thieves. https://www.simplypsychology.org/robbers-cave.html


Yet No Comments