Connecting Across Differences: Social and Cultural Forces in Conflict and Cooperation

Abstract: We live in a world that is increasingly diverse yet often divided. Understanding how social and cultural differences can create challenges as well as enhance social cohesion is essential for navigating today’s workplaces and societies. This symposium brings together new research that explores when social and cultural differences undermine versus strengthen cooperation and cohesion. The first two talks focus on how differences can fuel division and hinder cooperation. Medvedev et al. show that wealth inequality interacts with cultural beliefs to shape attitudes toward the rich and the poor, helping explain when economic divides escalate into class conflict. Roth et al. demonstrate that differences in beliefs about effort can elicit negative judgments and undermine willingness to collaborate. The next two talks point to pathways that can instead help people work across differences to foster cooperation and cohesion. Langdon et al. show that framing disability inclusion as a core value (vs. duty) enhances disabled applicants’ sense of fairness, support, and inclusion. Lin et al. suggest that acquiring multicultural experience can enhance individuals’ attitudes about diversity and thereby increase the diversity of their social networks. Together, our symposium deepens understanding and offers future directions for research on how differences shape conflict management.

Keywords: culture; diversity; conflict; inclusion; social networks