The relation between agreeableness and conflict tactics in intergroup conflict

The current study focuses on the relationship between agreeableness and conflict tactics in intergroup conflict. Intergroup conflict arises when multiple groups have incompatible needs. Individuals can invest in intergroup conflict at their own cost through conflict tactics such as ingroup bias or outgroup harm. The trait agreeableness may be an important predictor in the choice for conflict tactics. I hypothesized that agreeableness was positively associated with ingroup bias and negatively associated with outgroup harm. This study operationalized intergroup conflict with the Intergroup Prisoner’s Dilemma Maximizing-Differences (IPD-MD) (N = 126). The results supported the first hypothesis that indeed, highly agreeable people show more ingroup bias in intergroup conflict than their less agreeable counterparts. However, the second hypothesis was not supported by our results, as no relationship was found between agreeableness and outgroup harm. Finally, this study includes several...Show moreThe current study focuses on the relationship between agreeableness and conflict tactics in intergroup conflict. Intergroup conflict arises when multiple groups have incompatible needs. Individuals can invest in intergroup conflict at their own cost through conflict tactics such as ingroup bias or outgroup harm. The trait agreeableness may be an important predictor in the choice for conflict tactics. I hypothesized that agreeableness was positively associated with ingroup bias and negatively associated with outgroup harm. This study operationalized intergroup conflict with the Intergroup Prisoner’s Dilemma Maximizing-Differences (IPD-MD) (N = 126). The results supported the first hypothesis that indeed, highly agreeable people show more ingroup bias in intergroup conflict than their less agreeable counterparts. However, the second hypothesis was not supported by our results, as no relationship was found between agreeableness and outgroup harm. Finally, this study includes several theories to explain these results, as well as directions for future research.Show less

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The relation between agreeableness and conflict tactics in intergroup conflict