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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 29, 2025

The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test

The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test

Published on: November 19, 2015

Inequality between identity groups and social unrest.

Christian Houle¹, Damian J Ruck^2,3, R Alexander Bentley^2,3

¹Department of Political Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface

|March 23, 2022

Summary

Rising inequality fuels societal conflict by undermining cooperation between groups. Mechanisms like rule of law and independent action can promote stability, while resource availability may worsen conflict.

Keywords:

cooperation horizontal inequality modelling social norms unrest

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Area of Science:

Socioeconomics
Political Science
Mathematical Modeling

Background:

Societal conflict is often driven by economic, social, and political inequalities between identity groups.
Understanding the social dynamics of cooperation and conflict is crucial for societal stability.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a mathematical model of cooperation and conflict in multi-factional societies.
To identify factors influencing the stability of cooperation amidst inequality.

Main Methods:

Developed a mathematical model of inter-factional economic and political interactions.
Employed multivariate statistical analysis on global data from 75 countries.
Used social unrest as a proxy for the breakdown of societal cooperation.

Main Results:

Predicted that increasing economic and political inequality leads to cooperation collapse.
Identified mechanisms like rule of law and anti-conformity as potential stabilizers.
Found that state resource acquisition without cooperation can exacerbate conflict.

Conclusions:

Mathematical modeling and empirical data support the link between inequality and conflict.
Societal stability can be enhanced by decoupling power and promoting independent action.
Policy interventions should consider the impact of resource distribution on cooperation.