Theme Panel: Drivers of Inter-Group Cooperation and Prejudice in Divided Societies

July 31, 2025 APSA Annual Meeting, Theme Panels Comments Off on Theme Panel: Drivers of Inter-Group Cooperation and Prejudice in Divided Societies

Co-sponsored by Division 21: Conflict Processes

In-Person Full Paper Panel

Participants:

  • (Chair) Laia Balcells, Georgetown University
  • (Discussant) Salma Mousa, University of California, Los Angeles
  • (Discussant) Aidan Milliff, Florida State University

Session Description:

This panel examines the psychological dynamics of inter-group cooperation and conflict. The papers collectively ask what drives prejudice and tension between groups, and what factors or interventions could shift individuals toward greater cooperation and reconciliation. The papers tackle a range of group divisions including ethnic violence, partisan polarization, and refugee-host community segregation, and draw evidence from a range of contexts, including Nigeria, Israel, Ghana, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Uganda, and the United States. The first set of papers consider factors that may increase prejudice and prevent cooperation. First, Bollen and Chang find that the visibility of inequality heightens animosity between ethnic groups, and develop a new measure to capture this previously understudied aspect of inequality. Next, Gilchrist argues that narratives about past ethnic violence contribute to current tensions. She presents survey evidence suggesting that Nigeria’s strategy of downplaying and avoiding national discussion of past violence has only backfired, allowing divisive narratives to flourish locally instead. Building on the theme of evaluating strategies to manage conflict, a second set of papers turns to examining which factors or interventions may foster cooperation between previously conflicting groups. Kazis-Taylor suggests that in intractable conflict settings, older adults, who have lived through longer stretches of conflict, become “war-weary” and more supportive of peace settlements as they age. However, they do not develop warmer views of the other side. Next, using the case of partisan polarization in the US, Weiss, Green, and Willer investigate whether elite messages can encourage individuals to cooperate across group divides. They find that cooperative behaviors are malleable, but prejudicial attitudes are not, echoing the findings of Kazis-Taylor. Finally, Wai examines the efficacy of an inter-group contact intervention with refugee and native farmers in Uganda. She finds that while contact may reduce some forms of prejudice, it does not necessarily lead to an increase in cooperation, since individuals continue to view their own group as more hard-working and capable. Taken together, the papers push forward the study of inter-group cooperation and prejudice, questioning old assumptions and introducing new measurement strategies, sources of data, and theoretical innovations to the literature.