On Being Peripheral and Paying Attention: Prototypicality and Information Processing in Intergroup Conflict

Abstract

Intergroup conflict presents a complicated situation, in which resolution success depends largely on representative negotiators' motivation to process large quantities of information. Four intergroup negotiation experiments demonstrate that such information processing motivation is shaped by the representative's position within the constituent group. In Experiment 1, representatives who received bogus feedback indicating that they occupied a peripheral position within their group reported higher information processing motivation than did more prototypical group representatives, but only when they were held accountable for their behavior. In Experiment 2, accountable peripherals acquired more information and demonstrated better recall of information than prototypicals. Experiment 3 showed that accountable peripherals were more sensitive to emotional expressions of the outgroup representative during the negotiation. Finally, in Experiment 4 accountable peripherals attained more integrative agreements than their prototypical counterparts. We discuss implications for research on prototypicality and motivated information processing in intergroup conflict.