The den of thieves experiment: creating conflict out of thin air

This simple experiment shows that conflict comes easily by simply creating groups.

We often wonder how so many social conflicts can exist. So many wars have befallen mankind, so many ethnic or religious clashes, so many problems for coexistence or for collaboration between people. The experiment of the cave of thieves is a way to clear all these doubts, with surprising results.with surprising results.

This type of study was devised in the middle of the 20th century, just after the end of the Second World War, a time when an infinite number of psycho-social experiments emerged that provided answers to many unknowns derived from the conflict.

What is the den of thieves experiment?

The den of thieves experiment took place in the United States, near Oklahoma, and was devised in order to to detect the prejudices and ideological burdens that individuals carry with them on their often cause the most serious problems such as xenophobia, misogyny, and homophobia. Intolerance "of the other", in short. There is a kind of mantra of "them against us" with which we often think we do not feel identified.

So it was two professors at the University of Oklahoma in the United States, Muzafer Sherif and Carolyn Sherif, who came up with the idea of doing this research. They selected two groups of children groups of children between 10 and 11 years of age, with no history of without a history of conflict, from stable families and a correct childhood in order to avoid external conditioning.

First of all, none of the members of both groups (a total of 24 children) had prior knowledge of the experiment, and none of them knew each other or had crossed paths, since they were selected from different schools. It is important to insist on this section for the successful conduct of the experiment.

The 3 phases of the study

A place in the open field, in nature, was selected. It is the ideal place to get rid of any social stigma, a way to equate the individual with the rest by wearing the same clothes, sharing a similar space and respecting it.

The experiment was conducted in the well-known Cave of Thieves Nature Park (Oklahoma, USA). (Oklahoma, USA), hence the name. As soon as they set foot on the land, the tutors randomly divided the children into two groups, called Group A and Group B.

Sense of identity

In this first phase or stage of the experiment, the authors are in charge of encourage the feeling of belonging to a group through joint activities, such as swimming, hiking, etc. such as swimming, hiking, or gathering wood for campfires. In short, activities that strengthen interpersonal relationships.

2. Conflict phase

In the second stage of the den of thieves experiment, the teachers introduced elements or situations of friction between the two participating groups, differentiating facts that provoked conflict. Verbal confrontation was increasingly presentIn the second stage of the thieves' cave experiment, the teachers introduced elements or situations of friction between the two participating groups, differentiating facts that would provoke conflict.

3. Collaboration phase

Surprised by how easy the friction phase had been, decided to interrupt it and move quickly to the reconciliation phase.. To this end, the researchers endeavored to carry out activities with a common goal of eliminating the artificial prejudices that had been created. An imaginary agent was introduced that was intended to wipe out their edible reserves.

Again, the results were again significant. Groups A and B decided to set aside their differences to fight against a single enemy.. In addition to moving in the same direction, the gestures of solidarity and fraternity among them also increased. The bad guy was no longer "the other".

Revealing results

And what is the purpose of the thieves' cave experiment? This type of research aims to clear up some of the questions that we often ask ourselves. The results of the aforementioned case showed curious data, especially considering that the participants were people without a special predisposition to conflict.

The teachers were overwhelmed by the ease with which the groups came to create a feeling of hatred towards each other. **They went as far as not wanting to sit with each other at lunchtime. at mealtimesThey avoided any kind of close contact, including visual contact. As previously mentioned, this phase had to be shortened.

On the other hand, collaboration overlapped with confrontation just as quickly. What does this tell us? Well, surely the human being is more manipulable than many people really think.This phenomenon is well exploited by the ruling, economic and scientific classes. It is enough to be told that something is bad or good to believe it.