Conflict and Cohesion: A Review of the Literature

The paper reviews the theoretical formulations and the empirical tests of the proposition that external conflict increases internal cohesion. Literature from sociology, anthropology, psychology, and political science is discussed. Though it is often assumed to be true and is easily illustrated, the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of conflict resolution 1976-03, Vol.20 (1), p.143-172
Main Author: Stein, Arthur A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
Collectivities
Conflict resolution
Frustration
International politics
Political conflict
Political parties
Review Section
Social psychology
Solidarity
War
Warfare
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Summary:The paper reviews the theoretical formulations and the empirical tests of the proposition that external conflict increases internal cohesion. Literature from sociology, anthropology, psychology, and political science is discussed. Though it is often assumed to be true and is easily illustrated, the empirical studies suggest that there are a number of intervening variables and that the hypothesis is not uniformly true. While hardly adequate, these empirical studies provide a subtler specification of the hypothesis, knowledge of which can lead researchers to structure their studies differently. Examples of this are provided and other areas of application are also discussed.
ISSN:0022-0027
1552-8766
DOI:10.1177/002200277602000106