Superordinate goals and intergroup conflict

We have examined the effects of different types of superordinate goals on intergroup differentiation and attraction. On the basis of Social Identity Theory it was hypothesized that a reduction in social conflict would be most probable when groups enjoyed distinctive or non‐comparable roles in a cooperative activity. Accordingly, 55 arts and science students participated in a cooperative intergroup task in which the groups' roles were either comparable or non‐comparable. For half the subjects the group division was explicitly based on faculty membership; for the remainder the groups appeared to be ad hoc. Measures of intergroup liking and differentiation were taken before and after the task, which involved a superordinate goal of substantial financial gain. Results indicated that comparability of roles increased intergroup differentiation when the faculty categorization was made explicit, and decreased liking for the out‐group when it was not. It was concluded that there are therefore circumstances when superordinate goals may not reduce intergroup conflict, and that these are predictable from a consideration of group distinctiveness and the implications of this for social identity.