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Monday, October 14, 2013

"Robber's Cave Experiment: A Parable For Washington"


"A classic result in social psychology, called the Robber's Cave experiment, sheds light on the current dysfunctional political dynamic. It was conducted in 1954 by the psychologist Muzafer Sherif. Mr. Sherif took a group of 22 boys, 12 years old, to a summer camp in Robber's Cave State Park in Oklahoma...In the second week of camp, the Eagles and the Rattlers were brought together for competitive team activities like baseball and tug-of-war. Even though the boys had similar backgrounds, the competition was far from friendly. Taunting, name-calling and vandalizing the other team's property were common...In short, group identity and competition led to irrational and self-righteous hostility. Doesn't that sound like the political rhetoric we hear on the daily news?" N. Gregory Mankiw in The New York Times

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"Identity"
TED Radio Hour




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