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Muzafer Sherif: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from Muzafer Sherif, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• Alone in the dark, strangers converge on the same made-up answer

  Muzafer Sherif put people alone in a dark room and asked how far a stationary pinpoint of light seemed to drift — an illusion with no real answer. Individual estimates varied wildl…

  — Muzafer Sherif, The Psychology of Social Norms

• Give two rival boy gangs a shared crisis, and the rivalry dissolves

  In 1954, researchers split 22 boys into two camp groups that turned hostile within days of competing for prizes — raiding cabins, burning flags. Talking it out didn't help. Only ta…

  — Muzafer Sherif, O.J. Harvey, B. Jack White, William Hood, Carolyn Sherif, Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation: The Robbers Cave Experiment

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