In June 1954, social psychologist Muzafer Sherif brought 22 boys, all aged 11 and 12, to a remote camp in Robbers Cave State Park, Oklahoma. Located in Latimer County, the camp was carefully selected. The boys were all white, middle-class, and Protestant, so any conflict could not be blamed on existing differences. For a week, they lived in two separate groups, unaware the other existed. Their parents had paid 25 dollars for them to attend and were strictly forbidden from visiting. The boys did not know the janitor was Sherif himself, observing their every move, or that the camp's true purpose was not fun, but to study hatred.
The Robbers Cave Experiment
Muzafer Sherif's 1954 summer-camp study of how rivalry turns groups against each other, and what his own notes later revealed about it.
Chapter 1
The Summer Camp
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Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Robbers Cave experiment?
It was a 1954 social psychology study led by Muzafer Sherif. He divided 22 eleven-year-old boys into two groups at a summer camp to study how conflict between groups develops and how it can be resolved.
How did the researchers create conflict between the boys?
They introduced the two groups, the 'Eagles' and 'Rattlers', through a series of competitive games with prizes for the winners and nothing for the losers. Researchers also actively provoked the boys by spreading rumors and manipulating tournament scores to increase tension.
Was the Robbers Cave experiment the first of its kind?
No, an earlier attempt by Sherif in 1953 at Middle Grove, New York, actually failed. In that study, the boys realized the researchers were trying to make them fight and instead united against the adults, forcing the experiment to be abandoned.
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