Procesy grupowe a rozwiazywanie antagonistycznych konfliktów: Czy idea demokracji deliberatywnej może mieć psychologiczny sens?

• Authors: Janusz Reykowski

Title variants

EN

GROUP PROCESSES AND SOLVING ANTAGONISTIC CONFLICTS: IS THE IDEA OF DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY A PSYCHOLOGICALLY FEASIBLE PROPOSITION?

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Social psychological research suggests that under certain conditions social groups can engender powerful “synergic tendencies” that facilitate development of shared cognitions among group members. As a result of these processes, the groups can reach an agreement. The purpose of this research was to identify these conditions and test their effects. The research consisted of a series of group debates concerning important issues that evoked strong controversies among the participants, i.e. parents of school children who discussed sex education in schools (20 debates, 195 participants), politicians representing right wing and left-wing parties who discussed the same topic (7 debates, 35 participants), and residents of a county at the east part of Poland who argued about the site of a garbage collection (10 debates, 100 participants). Six to 13 persons took part in each debate, which usually lasted 100-110 minutes. The debates were conducted by a facilitator according to specially prepared scenarios. Before and after the debate, participants filled out special questionnaires measuring their attitudes and some psychological variables. The debates were recorded on videotape. The obtained data support the contention that social groups tend to engender synergic forces inducing group members to seek agreements in spite of differences. They also indicate that under specific conditions (perceived importance of common tasks, induction of deliberative norms, group authority that supports the task and the norms) the groups can reach agreements even in situations of serious ideological conflict or conflict of interests. The experience of working for agreement can influence participants’ attitudes not only toward the debated issues but also toward the more general strategies of dealing with political disagreements. On the basis of the obtained data a general model of the relationship between synergic and antagonistic tendencies in groups has been formulated.

Keywords

EN

CONFLICT; DELIBERATION; DEMOCRACY; NORMS; SOCIAL GROUP; SOCIAL IDENTITY; SOCIAL INFLUENCE

• Publisher: Polskie Stowarzyszenie Psychologii Społecznej, Warszawa, Poland
• Journal: Psychologia Społeczna
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 2
• Issue: 2(4)
• Pages: 97-119

Contributors

author

Janusz Reykowski

• nstytut Psychologii, Polska Akademia Nauk oraz Szkoła Wyższa Psychologii Społecznej, ul. Chodakowska 19/31, 03-815 Warszawa, Poland