Adversarial collaboration brings researchers with competing theories together in order to advance science. A new project led by Susan Fiske at Princeton University’s Department of Psychology seeks to build upon her lab’s previous TWCF-funded work: Dimensions of the Social Mind: How Adversaries Collaborate. This time, the objective is to examine the mechanics of outer circles: the groups to which the members of the adversarial collaboration belong. A multi-party negotiation typically isolates one representative from each side which forms an inner circle and, if successful, comes to some agreement. When they have reached this point and return to their tribe, they may not share the carefully cultivated compromises. The second generation is often more extreme and rigid than the first.

This new project will explore how to involve more researchers, even those who are keen to challenge the negotiated agreements in a constructive and insightful way. The team will also look for ways to allow other disciplines, other research consortia, and research teams to benefit from Fiske Lab’s evidence-based insights and personal experiences with adversarial collaboration.