Social conflict

Human history is replete with accounts of xenophobia and warfare. Two general suppositions are that such behaviors did not develop without precedence and that they predate the establishment of statal cultures. Using data derived from the Human Relations Area Files, fifty pre-statal populations are examined for xenophobic behaviors such as frequent hostilities with out-groups, warfare, and slavery utilization, using specific environmental and cultural criteria. These criteria are assigned discrete numerical values which are programmed into Statistical Program for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The use of statistical analyses can determine if there is a correlation between environmental and cultural variables, and whether these variables in marginal climatic conditions exert enough pressure to affect interpopulation relationships that would result in the formation of xenophobic reactions such as hostility or warfare.

This study examined associations between conflict affect, resolution, and relationship impact in adolescent conflicts with mothers and friends. Participants included 231 adolescents who were on average 14 years of age. Over three consecutive days, participants completed a diary study in which they reported and described conflicts with mothers and friends. Path analyses were used to examine direct and indirect associations from negative affect and resolution to relationship impact contrasting disagreements with mothers and disagreements with friends. Moderator analyses examined whether patterns of association differed by gender or conflict topic. Findings revealed that lower levels of negative affect and higher levels of compromise were associated with improved relations for both adolescent conflicts with mothers and friends. Mediation analyses indicated that negative affect largely accounted for the association between compromise and relationship impact. There was no difference between mother-adolescent and friend-adolescent relationships in the strength of these associations. Gender and conflict topic did not moderate these associations. These findings are consistent with a larger body of research on marital relationships, which suggests that negative affect plays a key role in predicting relationship outcomes. Specifically, it appears that regardless of the amount of compromise, it is the expression of anger that determines whether a conflict improves or worsens a relationship.

The current study examined the process by which adolescents choose who to dislike in a sample of Finnish 10th graders. Information was available for the adolescents on their victimization, bullying behavior, problem behavior, school burnout, school grades, and their depressive symptoms. The initial analysis consisted of assessing which characteristics made individuals more likely to dislike someone, after taking into account the characteristics of the individual being nominated. This analysis found that individuals form antipathy for dissimilar others. This process is hypothesized to be a result of mechanisms of threat. The secondary analysis compared the characteristics of unilateral and mutual antipathies. This analysis found that mutual antipathies are characterized by elevated differences between individuals on victimization. These results identify and describe important aspects of the adolescent peer environment.