Intergroup Competition Research Articles

Inter-group competition through joint marketing efforts and intra-group Cournot competition

In service industries such as the tourism industry, each firm in a given market faces intra-market competition in relation to quantity setting as well as inter-market competition regarding promotional activity. This study investigates whether collusion in relation to quantity setting and/or promotional activity in these markets is simultaneously beneficial for each firm. In particular, it examines the following four cases: double collusion, single collusion in relation to promotion, single collusion in relation to quantity setting, and competition. We demonstrate that double collusion does not always generate the largest profit for each firm, and that competition may generate the largest profit, which is contrary to conventional wisdom. Moreover, competition is always socially desirable. The novel contribution of this study is the analysis of what happens in terms of each firm’s collusive promotional activities, demonstrating that collusive promotional activities bring about overpromotion that reduces a firm’s profit. Furthermore, single collusion in relation to quantity setting competition results in overpromotion and a reduction in the firm’s profit. Thus, our main contribution is to illustrate the inefficiency of these collusion mechanisms.

Crafting Mixed Sexual Advertisements for Mainstream Media: Examining the Impact of Homosexual and Heterosexual Imagery Inclusion on Advertising Effectiveness

ABSTRACTThis research applied both qualitative and quantitative methods to measure the effectiveness of mixed sexual advertisements that explicitly feature both homosexual and heterosexual models within the same message. Drawing on theoretical framework of social identity theory, this study predict mixed sexual advertisements could create a perceptual social categorization that includes both homosexual and heterosexual identities and reduces intergroup competitions between homosexual and heterosexual viewers. Results indicate that mixed sexual advertisements elicit better ad evaluation than strictly gay-themed advertisements when evaluated by a mix of homosexual and heterosexual participants. The findings suggest mixed sexual advertisements could balance between homosexual-themed advertising and gay window advertising by addressing homosexual audiences without alienating heterosexual viewers.

The Evolution of Tribalism: A Social-Ecological Model of Cooperation and Inter-Group Conflict Under Pastoralism

This study investigates a possible nexus between inter-group competition and intra-group cooperation, which may be called tribalism. Building upon previous studies demonstrating a relationship between the environment and social relations, the present research incorporates a social-ecological model as a mediating factor connecting both individuals and communities to the environment. Cyclical and non-cyclical fluctuation in a simple, two-resource ecology drive agents to adopt either go-it-alone or group-based survival strategies via evolutionary selection. Novelly, this simulation employs a multilevel selection model allowing group-level dynamics to exert downward selective pressures on individuals' propensity to cooperate within groups. Results suggest that cooperation and inter-group conflict are co-evolved in a triadic relationship with the environment. Resource scarcity increases inter-group competition, especially when resources are clustered as opposed to widely distributed. Moreover, the tactical advantage of cooperation in the securing of clustered resources enhanced selective pressure on cooperation, even if that implies increased individual mortality for the most altruistic warriors. Troubling, these results suggest that extreme weather, possibly as a result of climate change, could exacerbate conflict in sensitive, weather-dependent social-ecologies---especially places like the Horn of Africa where ecologically sensitive economic modalities overlap with high-levels of diversity and the wide-availability of small arms. As well, global development and foreign aid strategists should consider how plans may increase the value of particular locations where community resources are built or aid is distributed, potentially instigating tribal conflict. In sum, these factors, interacting with pre-existing social dynamics dynamics, may heighten inter-ethnic or tribal conflict in pluralistic but otherwise peaceful communities.

Does group size matter? Captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) behavior as a function of group size and composition.

The National Institutes of Health and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums recommend that captive chimpanzees be housed in multi-male, multi-female, age-diverse groups of no less than seven individuals. These recommendations are rooted in the idea that captive chimpanzee groups should be modeled after free-ranging, wild, fission-fusion chimpanzee societies. However, captive chimpanzees do not face the environmental pressures faced by wild chimpanzees, including food scarcity, inter-group competition, and predation. As such, it has been posited that wild, natural conditions may not be the most relevant metric for defining optimal captive chimpanzee group sizes and compositions. Additionally, captive housing poses a set of restrictions on group sizes and compositions, including the need to balance large, multi-male groups with space per animal limitations and intra-group aggression. In the present study, we examined the behavioral effects of group size, within-group age range, and percentage of males in the group. We collected 713 hr of focal animal samples across 120 captive chimpanzees housed in social groups of 4-10 individuals using a 58-behavior ethogram. Chimpanzees housed in groups with a large age range exhibited less inactivity and more locomotion than chimpanzees housed in groups with smaller age ranges. Additionally, chimpanzees in groups of ≥7 with less than half males showed the highest levels of locomotion. Lastly, chimpanzees in groups of ≥7 with at least half males showed the highest levels of affiliation. There were no other significant differences in behavior as a function of these variables or their interactions. These findings lend some support to the existing group size and composition recommendations, providing empirical evidence that there may be certain advantages to housing captive chimpanzees in larger groups with a more diverse age range and/or more males. These results also have practical implications for behavioral management programs across captive settings.

An Exploration of the Factors Influencing the Spatial Behavior of Mantled Howler Monkeys (Alouatta palliata)

Space use patterns are the result of complex interactions between individuals and their environment. Although competition with conspecifics, the distribution and availability of food resources and climatic conditions may all influence space use by primates, these factors are usually addressed separately. Studies that integrate social, ecological, and physical factors have the potential to improve our understanding of variation in the spatial behavior of primates. We studied two groups of mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) in Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, to explore how intergroup competition, food availability, and ambient temperature influenced their use of space over 15 months. Loud calls produced by neighboring groups were a determining factor in the variation in the area used per month, daily ranging distance, and travel rate. Food availability did not influence any aspect of spatial behavior, but the distribution of feeding trees affected travel rate. Ambient temperature influenced the frequency and speed of travel. These results suggest that the spatial behavior of howler monkeys is influenced by social (intergroup competition), ecological (food distribution), and physical (ambient temperature) factors, and that the specific effects of these factors vary among measures of space use.

Analytical Thinking, Prosocial Voting, and Intergroup Competition: Experimental Evidence from China

We investigate whether and how analytical thinking affects Muslims' prosocial voting towards ingroup (fellow Muslims) and outgroup members (Han Chinese). We conduct an incentivized laboratory-style voting experiment in western China, where tension and competition exist between the two ethnic groups. We find a significant negative effect of analytical thinking on prosocial voting, which is related to group identity: a strong and significant negative effect on behavior towards outgroup members, but a small and generally insignificant effect towards ingroup members. Our results suggest that the former is mainly driven by fast thinking or norm-based, unconscious behavior, whereas the latter survives slow thinking, analytical thought. Our results are consistent with group competition affecting the benefits and costs of prosocial voting, and these costs and benefits become more salient when engaging in analytical thinking.

The Destructive Effect of Ingroup Competition on Ingroup Favoritism.

Ingroup favoritism has been widely verified in the context of intergroup competition; however, how competition among ingroup members affects ingroup favoritism remains unclear. We hypothesized that competition among ingroup members may disrupt individuals’ ingroup-favoring behavior because of conflicts of interest; we tested this hypothesis in two studies. In Study 1, we manipulated competitive intragroup outcome interdependence (present vs. absent) and the manner in which results were presented (public vs. anonymous). We found that regardless of result presentation, when competitive intragroup outcome interdependence was present, ingroup members did not exhibit ingroup favoritism; when such interdependence was absent, they showed ingroup favoritism. In Study 2, we introduced the manipulation of social identification, and reverified the main result that individuals under competitive intragroup outcome interdependence do not exhibit ingroup favoritism. Even the degree of social identification—a vital factor for intergroup behavior—could not moderate the destructive effect of competitive intragroup outcome interdependence on ingroup favoritism. Together, these findings indicate that ingroup favoritism would indeed be damaged by competition among ingroup members.

Culturally appropriate face strategies in cooperative learning with insight from cultural neuroscience

ABSTRACTFace, understood as public image, exerts critical influence on interpersonal communication. Incorporating insight from cultural neuroscience, a number of potential mismatches with regard to facework are revealed when methodologies originated from the West are applied in a different context. This paper examines culturally appropriate face strategies in cooperative learning among Vietnamese learners. Our results show that discussion outcomes increase when self-face and other-face are confirmed and group-face is mildly confronted in form of intergroup competition. The paper indicates that educational methods underpinned by fundamental psychological assumptions based on Western values should be adjusted to be culturally appropriate for contexts in which it is applied.

Racism and Gender Intersections Among Poor Urban Families The Role Of Inclusive Policies

This article analyses how social policies affect the relationships of female beneficiaries with their partners, relatives, friends and neighbours in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, Brazil. Relations between groups can involve gender discrimination, racism and social prejudices, which is understandable within the concept of intersectionality, in comparison to the framework of intergroup competition for scarce resources or according to the perspective of realistic intergroup conflicts. Methods: A qualitative methodology combined interviews with beneficiaries of Conditioned Cash Transfers programs (CCT) and other social programs, as well as with focus groups comprising of these beneficiaries, their relatives, friends and neighbours. Results: social programs have been able to reduce the impact of poverty and have improved gender empowerment and partners’ relationships within the families. However, prejudices and intergroup conflicts emerge between beneficiaries with small children and their friends or neighbours, (mainly childless women who applied but were not considered poor and do not receive social benefits). Discussion: Results confirm the hypothesis of realistic intergroup competition. Moreover, racism persists in poor communities, indicating that intersectionality should be included in the framework of affirmative policies and education to promote equality values should be reinforced in order to mitigate race discrimination and intergroup conflicts.

The impacts of peer competition-based science gameplay on conceptual knowledge, intrinsic motivation, and learning behavioral patterns

The present study investigates how the different modes of game-design triggers learning outcomes, focusing on peer learning and intergroup competition. A problem-solving science game was developed to help secondary students to learn about the motion of objects. Participants (N = 110) from an urban middle school were randomly assigned to four game-design conditions (individual-competition, individual-no-competition, peer-competition, and peer-no-competition). The results indicated that the peer-competition and peer-no-competition groups outperformed those in the individual-competition and individual-no-competition groups in terms of conceptual knowledge. Additionally, peer-competition groups exhibited higher interest and value and lower tension than those in the individual gameplay groups. Patterns of learning behavior revealed the emergence of in situ science-related problem solving in the peer-competition mode of GBL. Implications on the effectiveness of game-design for GBL are discussed.

Low familiarity and similar ‘group strength’ between opponents increase the intensity of intergroup interactions in mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei)

Intergroup interactions in social animals can vary from hostile to affiliative and may be influenced by factors such as competitive ability, resource values and existing intergroup relationships. Despite the potential for intergroup interactions to affect individual fitness and group stability, few studies have comprehensively tested how social, demographic and ecological factors may simultaneously influence intergroup interactions. Using 13 years of continuous data on intergroup interactions (n = 464), group composition, range use and diet, we investigated the factors that influenced the initiation and escalation of intergroup interactions in a fully habituated subpopulation of mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. The majority of interactions were non-physically agonistic (57%), while peaceful exchanges and physical aggression were less common (18% and 25% of interactions respectively). Solitary males and young dominant silverbacks were the most likely to initiate an interaction, presumably because these males have the highest incentive to attract mates. Aggressive interactions between a group and a solitary male involved a high number of participating group members, reflecting the incentive to avoid injury and infanticide associated with solitary male encounters. Aggression between social groups escalated when groups were similarly sized, perhaps because these groups have similar competitive abilities. Peaceful intergroup interactions most commonly involved opponents that contained familiar and related individuals, suggesting that the short dispersal distance of gorillas may facilitate kin-selected intergroup tolerance. Variation and plasticity in gorilla behaviour during intergroup interactions are therefore dependent on the opponent’s familiarity and threat level. Intergroup interactions can vary from aggressive physical disputes to tolerant intermingling among extra-group individuals. Competition for access to limiting resources can often influence the occurrence of aggressive intergroup competition, but may not be sufficient to describe peaceful mingling between groups in social species. We found that although the main driver of intergroup interactions may be mating competition between males, interactions between familiar social groups were significantly more peaceful than interactions involving unfamiliar groups. These findings suggest that maintaining social and kin relationships with neighbouring groups may act as a strategy for reducing conflict in group-structured social species.

The politics of paper: negotiating over and around indigeneship certification in Plateau State, Nigeria

ABSTRACTThe certification of indigeneship in Nigeria has become one of the most contested documentation processes in the country, given its implications for Nigerians’ citizenship rights and political and economic opportunities. This paper analyses the contestations over and around indigeneship certification in Plateau State. It argues that while the notion of indigeneship has roots in the colonial period, postcolonial forces have reshaped and transformed it. The increasingly poor documentation practices of the Nigerian state, particularly at the local level, have interacted with a fragmentation and formalisation of “indigenous belonging” and given it new functions. In the context of Plateau State, then, this paper shows how these processes have resulted in at least two distinct forms of contestation over indigeneship: first, the intergroup competition over indigeneship in Jos North and, second, the contestation around the margins of indigeneship in the rural areas of Quan Pan.

Mechanism Design for Resource Allocation in Networks With Intergroup Competition and Intragroup Sharing

We consider a network where strategic agents, who are contesting for allocation of resources, are divided into fixed groups. The network control protocol is such that within each group agents get to share the resource and across groups they contest for it. A prototypical example is the allocation of data rate on a network with the multicast/multirate architecture. Compared to the unicast architecture (which is a special case), the multicast/multirate architecture can result in substantial bandwidth savings. However, design of a market mechanism in such a scenario requires dealing with both private and public good problems as opposed to just private goods in unicast. The mechanism proposed in this paper ensures that social welfare maximizing allocation on such a network is realized at all Nash equilibria (NE), i.e., full implementation in NE. In addition it is individually rational, i.e., agents have an incentive to participate in the mechanism. The mechanism, which is constructed in a quasi-systematic way starting from the dual of the centralized problem, has a number of useful properties. Specifically, due to a novel allocation scheme, namely “radial projection,” the proposed mechanism results in feasible allocation even off equilibrium. This is a practical necessity for any realistic mechanism since agents have to “learn” the NE through a dynamic process. Finally, it is shown how strong budget balance at equilibrium can be achieved with a minimal increase in message space as an add-on to a weakly budget balanced mechanism.

Zero‐Sum Thinking and the Masculinity Contest: Perceived Intergroup Competition and Workplace Gender Bias

AbstractGender‐based zero‐sum thinking reflects beliefs that women's status gains correspond directly with men's status losses. These beliefs may help explain people's resistance to gender equity. Here, two studies examined the association between men's zero‐sum thinking and workplace gender biases. In Study 1, men (N = 235) employed in workplaces with stronger masculinity contest norms reported observing stronger bias against women in the workplace, and this effect was mediated by an increase in their own zero‐sum thinking. In Study 2, college students (N = 269) read information that either threatened or affirmed the gender status hierarchy and then reported their zero‐sum thinking and their support for gender fair workplace policies that undermine the masculinity contest. Men, but not women, reduced support for gender fair policies following a gender hierarchy threat, and this effect was mediated by an increase in their zero‐sum thinking. Discussion considers the workplace policy implications of these findings.

Hybrid learning environment: Collaborative or competitive learning?

The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of different conditions of face-to-face learning on the participation and learning of students in the virtual community. In particular, we analyze the effect of collaboration vs intergroup competition learning on interdependence, regulation of socio-cognitive conflict, participation, and the quality of the contributions in a virtual learning platform. This study took place in an educational research course. The participants in the full investigation were 36 (94.44% females) undergraduates enrolled in the subject of educational research, which was part of a 4-year social education degree program. A Latin Squares design was applied to carry out the full investigation. The results show that conditions of collaboration without competition in face-to-face environments facilitate better quality of learning to a greater extent. In addition, there are no benefits of intergroup competition over individual competition learning. Thus, in this study, collaborative learning designs without any competition could be considered more consistent with the goal that underpins the main right to education: Each student is able to achieve what he has to achieve, taking advantage of the abilities of each and every agent in the learning community (teacher and students) to do so. These results are not consistent with previous studies. We suggest that characteristics of the sample could explain these differences between studies.

The evolution of shame and guilt

Shame and guilt seem to be two synonymous moral emotions but actually lead to contrasting human behaviors or behavioral tendencies. Shame drives people to hide or deny their wrongdoings while guilt drives people to amend their mistakes. How shame and guilt evolved in humans is still obscure. Here we present a computer model featured with reciprocal altruism and gregarious lifestyle for studying this question. We tested ten different strategies in our model and the pairwise contests show that shame-driven-hiding strategy can dominate the other strategies such as tit-for-tat and Pavlov in more than half of parameter combinations. The mathematical analysis of our model demonstrates that shame-driven-hiding strategy is an evolutionary stable strategy within a group as long as hiding can let an individual evade the retaliations to his wrongdoings. However, the problem of hiding is that it reduces an individual’s social circle, i.e. living in a smaller group. Our analysis also shows that guilt-driven-amending strategy can outperform shame-driven-denying strategy at both individual and group levels if the cooperative behavior is sustainable within a group (b/(b-c) < T/n). Thus, we propose that shame is more adaptive at the individual level while guilt is more advantageous in the context of intergroup competition.

Ethnic political exclusion and terrorism: Analyzing the local conditions for violence

Previous work finds that countries that contain an excluded group are at higher risk of terrorism. However, there are good reasons to think that the impact of exclusion may be more likely to motivate ethnic violence when this exclusion is paired with local conditions that increase awareness of intergroup competition. In this study, we examine sub-national terrorist violence and find that areas that contain an excluded ethnic group are at higher risk of violence. Moreover, this risk is heightened by local population density, wealth, and country regime type.

Trading for peace*

AbstractI examine the conditions under which trade can support peaceful coexistence and prosperity when particular social and ethnic groups are cheap targets of violence. A simple theoretical framework reveals that for a broad set of cases, while inter-group competition generates incentives for violence, the presence of non-replicable, non-expropriable inter-group complementarities becomes necessary to sustain peaceful coexistence over long time horizons. In addition to complementarity, two further conditions are important for deterring violence over time. When relatively mobile groups (e.g. immigrants) are vulnerable, a credible threat to leave can deter violence. When less mobile (indigenous) groups are vulnerable, high-monitoring costs that allow them to withhold production can improve their gains from trade. I describe the implications for indigenous entrepreneurship and cultural assimilation, the development of local institutions supporting inter-ethnic trust and immigration policies and policies aimed at mitigating conflict through financial innovations. I illustrate these implications using contemporary evidence and historical cases of organizations and institutions created to engender trade and support peace drawn from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Nothing to fear? Anxiety, numeracy, and demographic perceptions

Studies have found that Americans tend to overestimate the size of minority populations, a pattern that potentially increases antipathy toward racial and ethnic outgroups due to heightened perceptions of intergroup competition. Recent research, however, suggests that providing people with accurate information about racial and ethnic demographics has no discernible impact on intergroup attitudes. In this study, we consider whether anxiety is responsible for overestimates of racial and ethnic groups in the USA. We conduct an experiment where we manipulate anxiety before asking subjects to estimate the size of racial and ethnic groups at the local and national level. Contrary to our expectations, our findings suggest that there is no discernible link between emotions and estimates of minority group percentages, and in some cases, negative emotions reduce misperceptions.

Intergroup Competition in Exergames: Further Tests of the Köhler Effect.

We examined how competing with a software-generated partner (SGP) against another human/virtual partner team, in an exercise video game (exergame), affects individual motivation as measured by effort. Participants (n = 90; 49 female; Mage = 19.93 ± 1.48) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: individual control (IC); conjunctive partner, no competition (PNC); or conjunctive partner, with competition (PWC). Participants performed the first series of exercises alone. After resting, those in the partnered conditions performed the remaining trials with a same-sex SGP. Those in the PWC condition were told that they and their virtual partner would be competing against another human-virtual partner team. A significant motivation gain was observed in both partnered conditions compared to control (P < 0.001), but the partnered groups did not differ significantly. However, participants in the PWC condition enjoyed the task significantly (P < 0.05) more than those in the PNC and IC conditions and the PWC participants identified more with the SGP as a teammate than the PNC participants. Altogether, intergroup competition with an SGP may be an enjoyable way to enhance motivation and performance while exercising.