It’s
that time of year when Haverford’s men’s soccer team is out of season and the
men’s lacrosse team is preparing for their spring season. It’s that time when
the soccer team starts taking on the responsibility of throwing parties and the
lacrosse team starts taking a break. All of this got me thinking about
something I had heard my freshman year about these two teams. According to one
individual, these teams aren’t too fond of each other because they both want to
be known as the team who can throw the better party. I have no idea if this
information is true, or why this rivalry would only exist between the soccer
team and lacrosse team when there are other teams on campus that also throw
parties, but it reminded me of what we’re learning in class about intergroup
competition.
If
this alleged rivalry does exist, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched, even at a
place like Haverford, considering the dynamics behind intergroup competition.
These two groups are vying for the reputation of throwing great parties and hope
to outperform the other team as to achieve the reputation and
social gratification that would come along with it. While much of this has to
do with social status and being known as the team who is able to throw a great party,
there seems to be another dynamic involved which has to do with resources. The
baseball team is another team on campus that typically throws parties. However,
the baseball team has something that the soccer team and lacrosse team don’t
have: their own place to hold these festivities. Since the majority of the
people living in Drinker are members of the baseball team, this is their
designated place to throw a party. The soccer team and lacrosse team, however,
do not have their own party spaces and must share. Last year, a popular option
for the soccer team and lacrosse team was the basement of HCA 19 ever since
Gummere basement became off-limits. This year, Gummere basement is once again
an option, but people are staying away from apartment 19 now that they have
realized that the neighboring apartments in Ardmore don’t appreciate a party
atmosphere and that the fire alarm tends to go off when things get a little too
crowded down there. Thus, Gummere basement is looking like the only option.
The
fact that the soccer team and lacrosse team have to share this space because
they lack a designated place of their own may make them feel as though they
have to vie for this treasured, yet filthy, basement. They must make it a
memorable party place in the name of the soccer team or in the name of the
lacrosse team. This is when the competition to be known as the ultimate
party-thrower comes into play, whereas the baseball team is more distinct and
separate from this rivalry because they have a place to call their own.
Just
like in the Sherif (1961) study, the conflict between the "Rattlers" and "Eagles" began once they came into contact with each other after being brought
to the same campground. But just as they learned to work together and depend on
each other to accomplish tasks that could only be completed with the support and interdependence of both groups, perhaps the soccer and lacrosse teams could do the same. If
they were both presented with the challenge of throwing the best party that
Haverford has ever experienced, they would have to pool their resources and
work as one unit in order to achieve this goal. Of course, this rivalry may not
even exist, and even if it does, it is not as manifest as the competition that
was observed in the Sherif study. From what I have observed, while soccer
players and lacrosse players tend to stick together like any other team on
campus, there is no outright hostility. These guys don’t call each other names
or push and shove in the DC, like the Rattlers and the Eagles did in the
Robber’s Cave experiment. But while this alleged competition might be subtler,
it does hint at the classic signs behind intergroup competition. To determine
if this rivalry does exist, it would be interesting to perform a survey
experiment to determine if the soccer team or lacrosse team holds any negative
views of each other over other sports teams on campus, or if this information given
to me last year was simply rumor.
Reference:
Sherif, M. (1961). Classics in the
history of pscyhology (C. D. Green, Ed.). Retrieved from
http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Sherif/index.htm
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