Two Important but Neglected Ideas for Social Psychology as They Relate to Social Justice

I. Deutsch's Crude Law of Social Relations Many years ago, my students and I were doing research to answer the question: What are the factors which determine whether a conflict will take a constructive or destructive course? (See Deutsch, 1973, for a summary and discussion of this research) After much research, a major simplifying idea occurred to me which I labeled Deutsch's Crude Law o/Social Relations. It is that the characteristic processes and effects elicited by a given type ofsocial relationship (e.g., cooperative or competitive) tend also to elicit that type ofsocial relationship; and a typical effect ofany type ofrelationship tends to induce the other typical effects ofthe relationship. In my research on conflict, we had demonstrated that when conflict is viewed by the parties involved, as a mutual problem to be resolved cooperatively, it mainly leads to a constructive process ofconflict resolution with mutually satisfactory outcomes. On the other hand, a competitive, win-lose orientation to a conflict mainly leads to a destructive course of conflict resolution with both sides losing or the stronger party defeating the less powerful one. From the "crude law," one would expect that when the typical effects of a cooperative process are introduced into a conflict situation, the conflict is likely to be characterized by a constructive process; while the typical effects ofa competitive process are apt to produce a destructive process of conflict resolution. Thus, cooperation induces and is induced by fair treatment, perceived similarity in beliefs and attitudes, readiness to be helpful, openness in communication, trusting and friendly attitudes, sensitivity to common interests and de-emphasis of opposed interests, orientation toward enhancing mutual power rather than power differences, and so on. Similarly, competition