This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. If the origins of intergroup conflict can be understood and prevented, human health and welfare will be enhanced worldwide. Proposed are two experiments to test a theoretical model of intergroup relations that will provide intensive research training for undergraduate students. This model, called the Intergroup Relations Model (IRM), was developed by the PI. The IRM predicts that intergroup behavior is most proximally caused by intergroup emotion, that is itself caused by ethnocentrism (i.e., a belief that one's own group is superior to other groups) and negative out-group stereotypes. The IRM is a mediational model in which cognitive processes determine affect that, in turn, causes intergroup behavior. Past studies permitted correlational analyses of the relationships among the IRM constructs, and are consistent with the predictions of the IRM. However, the correlational data are inadequate for testing the validity of the model. The two studies proposed will test experimentally the theoretical predictions of the IRM. Three undergraduates and one graduate student will be actively involved in all phases of this research. Students will receive supervised training in theoretical derivation of hypotheses, development of research methods and operations, skill in running participants through the experimental protocol, organization and management of data, analysis of data, organization of results, writing and publication of findings, and presentation of results at scientific conferences. Eight students from my lab at Rhode Island College have completed the Ph.D.;some are now professors in tenure track positions. Recruiting talented undergraduates and graduate students was readily accomplished.
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