Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-frp75 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T19:15:10.066Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Experimental evidence suggests intergroup relations are, by default, neutral rather than aggressive

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2024

Hirotaka Imada Open the ORCID record for Hirotaka Imada [Opens in a new window]  and
Nobuhiro Mifune Open the ORCID record for Nobuhiro Mifune [Opens in a new window]
Hirotaka Imada
Affiliation:
School of Economics & Management, Kochi University of Technology, Kochi City, Kochi, Japan himada2022@gmail.com n.mifune@gmail.com; https://www.kochi-tech.ac.jp/profile/en/mifune-nobuhiro.html
Nobuhiro Mifune*
Affiliation:
School of Economics & Management, Kochi University of Technology, Kochi City, Kochi, Japan himada2022@gmail.com n.mifune@gmail.com; https://www.kochi-tech.ac.jp/profile/en/mifune-nobuhiro.html
*
*Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The target article offers a game-theoretical analysis of primitive intergroup aggression (i.e., raiding) and discusses difficulties in achieving peace. We argue the analysis does not capture the actual strategy space, missing out “do-nothing.” Experimental evidence robustly shows people prefer doing nothing against out-group members over cooperating with/attacking them. Thus, the target article overestimates the likelihood of intergroup aggression.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 47 , 2024 , e13
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Aaldering, H., & Böhm, R. (2019). Parochial versus universal cooperation: Introducing a novel economic game of within- and between-group interaction. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11(1), 36–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550619841627CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aaldering, H., Ten Velden, F. S., van Kleef, G. A., & De Dreu, C. K. W. (2018). Parochial cooperation in nested intergroup dilemmas is reduced when it harms out-groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 114(6), 909–923. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000125CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Balliet, D., Wu, J., & De Dreu, C. K. W. (2014). Ingroup favoritism in cooperation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140(6), 1556–1581. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037737CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Charness, G., & Chen, Y. (2020). Social identity, group behavior, and teams. Annual Review of Economics, 12, 691–713. https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV-ECONOMICS-091619-032800CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Everett, J. A. C., Faber, N. S., & Crockett, M. (2015). Preferences and beliefs in ingroup favoritism. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 9(Feb), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00015CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Halevy, N., Bornstein, G., & Sagiv, L. (2008). “In-group love” and “out-group hate” as motives for individual participation in intergroup conflict: A new game paradigm. Psychological Science, 19(4), 405–411. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02100.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jing, Y., Gries, P. H., Li, Y., Stivers, A. W., Mifune, N., Kuhlman, D. M., & Bai, L. (2017). War or peace? How the subjective perception of great power interdependence shapes preemptive defensive aggression. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 864. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00864CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mifune, N. (2022). Null results for the steal-framing effect on out-group aggression. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04729-zCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mifune, N., Hizen, Y., Kamijo, Y., & Okano, Y. (2016). Preemptive striking in individual and group conflict. PLoS ONE, 11(5), e0154859. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154859CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mifune, N., Simunovic, D., & Yamagishi, T. (2017). Intergroup biases in fear-induced aggression. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(Jan), 49. https://doi.org/10.3389/FPSYG.2017.00049/BIBTEXCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Romano, A., Gross, J., & De Dreu, C. K. W. (2022). Conflict misperceptions between citizens and foreigners across the globe. PNAS Nexus, 1(5), pgac267. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac267CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rusch, H. (2014). The evolutionary interplay of intergroup conflict and altruism in humans: A review of parochial altruism theory and prospects for its extension. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281(1794), 20141539. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1539CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rusch, H., & Gavrilets, S. (2020). The logic of animal intergroup conflict: A review. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 178, 1014–1030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.05.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simunovic, D., Mifune, N., & Yamagishi, T. (2013). Preemptive strike: An experimental study of fear-based aggression. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(6), 1120–1123. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JESP.2013.08.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tajfel, H., Billig, M. G., Bundy, R. P., & Flament, C. (1971). Social categorization and intergroup behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology, 1(2), 149–178. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420010202CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weisel, O., & Zultan, R. (2021). Perceptions of conflict: Parochial cooperation and outgroup spite revisited. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 167, 57–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2021.04.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wit, A. P., & Kerr, N. L. (2002). “Me versus just us versus us all” categorization and cooperation in nested social dilemmas. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(3), 616–637. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.83.3.616CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yamagishi, T., & Mifune, N. (2016). Parochial altruism: Does it explain modern human group psychology? Current Opinion in Psychology, 7, 39–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.07.015CrossRefGoogle Scholar