3. Classic Study: Sherif’s Robbers Cave Experiment

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we think about Sherif’s Robbers Cave study (1954), focusing in particular on: (i) this as a classic study on prejudice which explored realistic conflict theory in a field experiment involving two groups of boys at a summer camp; (ii) Sherif’s procedure and how his findings suggest that prejudice is not related to personality but arises out of a particular social context where a limitation of resources leads to conflict between separate social groups.

Course

In this course, Dr Juliet Wakefield (Nottingham Trent University) discusses prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. In the first lecture, we look at a definition of these three concepts. In the second lecture, we explore some social psychological explanations for prejudice, focusing in particular on the ‘authoritarian personality’ and realistic conflict theory. In the third lecture, we think about a classic study exploring the latter – Sherif’s Robbers Cave study. Next, we focus on social identity theory as a way of explaining how ingroup-outgroup dynamics can serve to fuel prejudice. In the fifth lecture, we think about a specific target of prejudice by considering sexism or gender discrimination. In the sixth and final lecture, we look at the potential effects of stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination on those targeted and their wider communities.

Lecturer

Dr Juliet Wakefield is a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. Dr Wakefield is a member of the Groups, Identities, and Health research group and has research interests in the social identity approach and implications of group membership. Some of Dr Wakefield’s recent publications include ‘Communities as conduits of harm: a social identity analysis of appraisal, coping and justice-seeking in response to historic collective victimisation’ (2022) and ‘The link between family identification, loneliness, and symptom severity in people with eating disorders’ (2022).