Page 364 - The Social Animal

346 The Social Animal

Interdependence—A Possible Solution

School desegregation can open the door to increased understanding
among students but, by itself, it is not the ultimate solution.The issue
is not simply getting youngsters of various races and ethnic back-
grounds into the same school; it’s what happens after they get there
that is crucial. As we have seen, if the atmosphere is a highly com-
petitive one, whatever tensions exist initially might actually be in-
creased as a result of contact.The tension that is frequently the initial
result of school desegregation reminds me somewhat of the behav-
ior of the young boys in the summer camp experiment by Muzafer
Sherif and his colleagues. 94 Recall that hostility was produced be-
tween two groups by placing them in situations of conflict and com-
petition. Once the hostility was established, it could no longer be
reduced simply by removing the conflicts and the competition. As a
matter of fact, once distrust was firmly established, bringing the
groups together in equal-status, noncompetitive situations served to
increase the hostility and distrust. For example, the children in these
groups had trouble with each other even when they were simply sit-
ting near each other watching a movie.
How did Sherif eventually succeed in reducing the hostility? By
placing the two groups of boys in situations in which they were mu-
tually interdependent—situations in which they had to cooperate
with each other to accomplish their goal. For example, the investiga-
tors set up an emergency situation by damaging the water-supply
system.The only way the system could be repaired was if all the chil-
dren cooperated immediately. On another occasion, the camp truck
broke down while the boys were on a camping trip. To get the truck
going again, it was necessary to pull it up a rather steep hill. This
could be accomplished only if all the youngsters pulled together, re-
gardless of whether they were Eagles or Rattlers. Eventually, there
was a diminution of hostile feelings and negative stereotyping. The
boys made friends across groups, began to get along better, and began
to cooperate spontaneously.
The key factor seems to be mutual interdependence—a situation
wherein individuals need one another to accomplish their goal. Sev-
eral researchers have demonstrated the benefits of cooperation in
well-controlled laboratory experiments. Morton Deutsch, 95 for ex-
ample, has shown that problem-solving groups are both friendlier