Dog Eat Dog: The impact of status and exposure to competitive behaviour on social

cohesion.

KYMBERLY O’NEILL KLO kjoneill@dodo.com.au

LYDIA WOODYATT
Flinders University of South Australia

Groups are beneficial for survival and wellbeing, yet in real life there are situations where in-
group members can turn on each other (e.g.; tall poppies; “women on women crime”, in-
group violence in marginalised communities, victim blame by other victims). What causes
group members to act in ways that are detrimental to their own best interests? This study (N
= 82) explores the impact of group status (low; high) and exposure to repetitive competitive
trials (pre; post) on in-group social capital (trust, identification, in-group emotion, ongoing
participation), using a social dilemma paradigm. Prior to competition, those in the low status
group reported lower social capital compared to the high status group. Participants reported
lower social capital after exposure to competitive trials. There was no interaction between
group status and exposure to competition, however given the initial negative effect of status,
the impact of competition was more debilitating to the low status group.

Character count (including spaces): 999

Key words: social-cohesion, in-group trust, competition, social capital.