A Behavioral Interaction Model: Toward an Integrative Theoretical Framework for Studying Intra- and Intergroup Dynamics

In this chapter, the authors discuss their minimal group experiments because they furnished the basis for their own research program on intra- and intergroup relations, and as they show, they furthered the development of the minimal group paradigm (MGP) by Henry Tajfel, Billig, M. G. Bundy, and C. I. Flament. The surprising results of the standard MGP of Tajfel et al. provided the main impetus for the development of the social identity (SI) position. The authors describe some of the basic assumptions in which the interdependence perspective (IP) and SI seem to differ from one another. They also describe behavioral interaction model. Willem Doise, who worked closely with Tajfel and his associates at the University of Bristol, suggested that the MGP was modeled with some modifications on the control condition of authors experiment. The authors argue that the social identity theory and IP approaches should be integrated in one theoretical framework.