The Impact of Negotiation on Intergroup Relations

Three studies examined the impact of interpersonal conflict on intergroup relations. It was hypothesized that whereas all subjects were expected to show in-group bias merely as a consequence of social categorization, in-group favoritism would be greatly reduced among those who negotiated with an out-group member, but not for those who negotiated with an in-group member. The results supported the predictions: People who negotiated with a member of an out-group developed more favorable evaluations of the out-group whereas people who negotiated with a member of their own group were more likely to show in-group favoritism (Experiments 1 and 2). However, when the negotiation situation was such that negotiators could not reach a mutually beneficial agreement, the positive effects of interpersonal negotiation with members of out-groups on intergroup relations was not observed (Experiment 3). Thus, negotiation with members of out-groups improves intergroup relations when the negotiation situation is one in which both persons' goals may be achieved. Whereas individuals who expected to negotiate with out-group members thought they would obtain significantly lower outcomes, there were no differences in terms of the value of the actual outcomes achieved for those who negotiated with an in-group member and those who negotiated with an out-group member.