Chapter 12 Definitions

Arbitration A type of third-party intervention that avoids negotiation as well as the necessity of any meetings between the parties in conflict

Blaming the victim Interpreting the negative outcomes that occur to others internally so that it seems that they deserved them

Collective action The attempts on the part of one group to change the social status hierarchy by improving the status of their own group relative to others

Competition The attempt to gain as many of the limited rewards as possible for ourselves, while reducing the likelihood of success for the other parties

Conflict When parties are involved in violence and hostility

Contributions dilemma When the short-term costs of a behavior lead individuals to avoid performing it, and this may prevent the long-term benefits that would have occurred if the behaviors had been performed

Cooperation Behavior that occurs when we trust the people or groups with whom we are interacting and are willing to communicate and share with the others

Distributive fairness Our judgments about whether or not a party is receiving a fair share of the available rewards

Dual-concern model of cooperation and competition A model of individuals relating to social dilemmas, or other forms of conflict, in different ways, depending on their underlying personal orientations or as influenced by the characteristics of the situation that orient them toward a given concern

False consciousness The acceptance of one’s own low status as part of the proper and normal functioning of society

Harm-based morality The belief that harming others, either physically or by violating their rights, is wrong

Harvesting dilemma A social dilemma that leads people to overuse an existing public good

Integrative outcome When a solution can be found that benefits all the parties

Intellective task A task that involves the ability of the group to make a decision or a judgment

Mediation Helping to create compromise by using third-party negotiation

Morality beliefs The set of social norms that describe the principles and ideals, as well as the duties and obligations, that we view as appropriate and that we use to judge the actions of others and to guide our own behavior

Negotiation The process by which two or more parties formally work together to attempt to resolve a perceived divergence of interest in order to avoid or resolve social conflict

Prisoner’s dilemma game A laboratory simulation that models a social dilemma in which the goals of the individual compete with the goals of another individual (or sometimes with a group of other individuals)

Procedural fairness Beliefs about the fairness (or unfairness) of the procedures used to distribute available rewards among parties

Public goods Benefits that are shared by a community at large and that everyone in the group has access to, regardless of whether or not they have personally contributed to the creation of the goods

Realistic group conflict When groups are in competition for objectively scarce resources

Social conventional morality Norms that are seen as appropriate within a culture but that do not involve behaviors that relate to doing good or doing harm toward others

Social creativity The use of strategies that allow members of low-status groups to perceive their group as better than other groups

Social dilemma A situation in which the goals of the individual conflict with the goals of the group

Social fairness norms Beliefs about how people should be treated fairly

Social group A set of individuals with a shared purpose and who normally share a positive social identity

Tit-for-tat strategy Initially making a cooperative choice and then simply matching the previous move of the opponent (whether cooperation or competition)