Muzafer Sherif

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Muzafer Sherif (born July 29, 1906, in Odemis, Izmir, Turkey – died October 16, 1988, in Fairbanks, Alaska) was one of the founders of social psychology. He helped develop social judgment theory.

In 1954, Muzafer and Carolyn Sherif studied the origin of prejudice in social groups in a classic study called the Robbers Cave Experiment. He conducted his research in a 200 acre (0.8 km²) Boy Scouts of America camp which was completely surrounded by Robbers Cave State Park in Oklahoma.

During the study, Sherif posed as a camp janitor. The study team screened a group of 24 twelve year-old boys with similar backgrounds. They were picked up by two buses carrying twelve boys each. Neither group knew of the other's existence. The boys were assigned to two living areas far enough apart that each group remained ignorant of the other's presence for the first few days. The Sherifs had broken up pre-existing friendships to the extent they could, so that each boy's identification with his new group could happen faster. Asked to choose names for their groups, one chose "The Rattlers", the other "The Eagles." Within two or three days, the two groups spontaneously developed internal social hierarchies.

The experiment was broken into three phases.

In-group formation, as described above.
A Friction Phase, which included first contact between groups, sports competitions, etc.
An Integration Phase (reducing friction).

Despite long-standing friendships that existed before the experiment, hostility between the groups was observed within days of first contact. Phase Two activities proceeded as planned, but soon proved overly successful. Hostility between the groups escalated to the point where the study team concluded the friction-producing activities could not continue safely. Phase Two was terminated and Phase Three commenced.

To lessen friction and promote unity between the Rattlers and Eagles, Sherif devised and introduced tasks that required cooperation between the two groups. These tasks are referred to in the study as super-ordinate goals. A superordinate goal is a desire, challenge, predicament or peril that both parties in a conflict need to get resolved, and that neither party can resolve alone. Challenges set up by the Sherifs included a water shortage problem, a "broken down" camp truck that needed enough "man" power to be pulled back to camp, and finding a movie to show. These and other necessary collaborations caused hostile behavior to subside. The groups bonded to the point that, by the end of the experiment, the boys unanimously insisted they all ride back home on the same bus.

The Robber's Cave experiment is one of social psychology's most cited studies dealing with differentiation, showing how easily opposing in-groups and group hostilities can form. At the same time, it is one of the best examples of conflict resolution brought about by finding super-ordinate needs that transcend intergroup conflict.

Both frightening and hopeful, Muzafer Sherif's experimental findings expose how susceptible humans are to the hostile troop behavior observed in chimpanzees and other primates, and how easily in-groups can be formed. Conversely, Phase Three demonstrates the human ability to conceptualize and discuss superordinate goals, suspend hostilities, and pull together to achieve those goals. This principle was demonstrated most recently in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission proceedings that followed the end of apartheid in South Africa. Faced with massive violent unheaval by victims of apartheid seeking violent payback for years of oppression, it was in everyone's interest to undertake a national cleansing that allowed victims and perpetrators to face and hear each other publicly, and to thoroughly document the story of anyone who wanted to testify. The power of super-ordinate goals to reduce friction is also seen during the aftermath of most disasters, from earthquakes and tsunamis, to manmade catastrophes like the September 11, 2001 attacks.

When a super-ordinate goal is organized around an impending attack, the phenomenon is also referred to as the "common enemy effect", which is often seen in fictional tales like the movie "Independence Day," where all international grievances and hostilities are dropped after aliens of superior force invade Earth.

Unfortunately, the common enemy effect also has a long history of being abused as a tool to stampede people for any political cause. Too often a leader produces a common enemy, a threat to all, in order to bring otherwise rebellious subjects or citizens under one tent. This low-cost political tool can solidify and expand a leader's political base. It is often the first step to achieving a grand strategic objective. Adolf Hitler's use of the Jews (tapping into Europe's pre-existing anti-semitism) is the most blatant example. Today it is almost a cliché to find demagogues invoking or manufacturing fearsome situations - often atrocities - to unite people behind them. This is done at the cost of a group or nation the demagogue finds easy to blame or label evil. In recent history, Mass media (radio, television) amplifies the voice of a leader so broadly and with such repetition that most of his citizens eventually become convinced a threat or enemy is real. Although the leader's group is successfully producing skepticism about whatever a rival party or leader asserts is vital and urgent.

The Robbers Cave Experiment was published under the title "Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation: The Robbers Cave Experiment" under the names Muzafer Sherif, O. J. Harvey, B. Jack White, William R. Hood, Carolyn W. Sherif (1954/1961). See first external link below for the experiment as published.