Social Relations: Conflict and Peacemaking How do we relate to others?

Conflict Conflict: is a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas. 3 Types: Approach-approach conflict – choosing between two attractive goals; you like both options, but can only choose one Avoidance-avoidance – choosing between two unattractive goals; you have to choose between two options, both of which you don’t like Approach-avoidance – a choice must be made about whether to pursue a goal that has positive and negative aspects What you want has both a good and bad outcome. This results in going back and forth (rats actually run up and down a ramp in this type conflict).

Figure 13.2: Types of conflict. Psychologists have identified three basic types of conflict. In approach-approach and avoidance-avoidance conflicts, a person is torn between two goals. In an approach-avoidance conflict, only one goal is under consideration, but it has both positive and negative aspects. Figure 13.2: Types of conflict. Psychologists have identified three basic types of conflict. In approach-approach and avoidance-avoidance conflicts, a person is torn between two goals. In an approach-avoidance conflict, only one goal is under consideration, but it has both positive and negative aspects.

Social Traps A social trap is any situation that rewards immediate actions that will have undesired effects in the long run. Personal examples of social traps: Many people are enticed into drinking too much at parties, because their pleasure is immediate and their discomfort - a hangover - comes later. Eating junk food because you enjoy the taste, but you pay for it later with weight gain. Many people go into debt to own many desirable goods, but later they suffer when the staggering credit card bill arrives.

Social Traps Psychologists have also been interested in collective social traps. In such traps, one individuals actions will not negatively impact the group interest. However, if many people act alike, collective harm is done. Examples of collective social traps: In a congested city, each person who leaves work right at 5:00 PM expects to gain by getting home earlier. Yet if everyone leaves at 5:00, the resulting traffic jam will insure that everyone gets home late and emotionally frazzled. Rather than waiting a half-hour before leaving to solve this problem, almost everyone tries to make a "fast getaway" to serve their own immediate interests. In larger industries, this problem could be reduced by staggered shifts - having portions of their employees start and finish work a half-hour before or after the regular time.

The Tragedy of the Commons A particular collective social trap has been named The Tragedy of the Commons. This tragedy occurs when people share a limited resource. It is a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior. The name comes from the commons, a shared field in the English villages in the midst of the village. Sheep were supposed to be grazed in the fields behind and a distance away from the village, not on the commons.  Sheep do a good job of eating grass, but if you don't move them to new pasture, they will eat the grass down to the roots and there will be no grass.  Each villager said to himself, only my sheep will graze on the commons, at night, when no one will see, but since many people did it, there was no grass left.

Tragedy of the Commons - Examples There is psychological evidence that – in real social traps – people are more likely to restrain themselves if they believe others will too. Otherwise, they are likely to think, "Why should I be a sucker? Nobody else is going to…” Examples: Agricultural overproduction prior to the Great Depression (resulting in the Dust Bowl) At the international level, countries continue to maintain nuclear stockpiles to feel "secure." Yet doing so increases the chance of a final nuclear holocaust. On each side, there are people wondering, "How did we get into this mess?“

Tragedy of the Commons - Examples In case you don't think this applies to you, more familiar examples of this dilemma relate to conserving gasoline, water or electricity, or engaging in environmentally-friendly behaviors (recycling, etc.). Whenever our personal comfort or convenience is involved, it is highly tempting to "let the other person worry about it." Yet - in the long run - everybody loses. When the supply of gas goes up and prices come down a little - more large cars tend to be purchased? When gas gets cheaper, are you more likely to buy a "gas-guzzler"?

Social Trap Examples The Dark Knight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc1awt6v2M0 British game show Golden Balls – contestants choose to “split” or “steal” the jackpot in the final round. Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM38mRHY150&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBtr8-VMj0E Figure 18.13 Social-trap game matrix Myers: Psychology, Eighth Edition Copyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers