Superordinate goals

In social psychology, superordinate goals are goals that are worth completing but require two or more social groups to cooperatively achieve.[1] The idea was proposed by social psychologist Muzafer Sherif in his experiments on intergroup relations, run in the 1940s and 1950s, as a way of reducing conflict between competing groups.[2] Sherif's idea was to downplay the two separate group identities and encourage the two groups to think of themselves as one larger, superordinate group. This approach has been applied in many contexts to reduce intergroup conflict, including in classrooms[3] and business organizations.[2] However, it has also been critiqued by other social psychologists who have proposed competing theories of intergroup conflict, such as contact theory and social categorization theory.

In the context of goal-setting theory, the concept is seen in terms of three goal levels. These are classified as subordinate, intermediate and superordinate.[4] An organization's superordinate goals are expressed through its Vision and Mission Statement and support strategic alignment of activities (subordinate and intermediate goals) with the overall purpose (superordinate goals).[5]

  1. ^ Deutsch, Morton, 1920-2017. (1973). The resolution of conflict; constructive and destructive processes. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-01683-2. OCLC 800748.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b Hogg, Michael A. (2013), "Intergroup Relations", in DeLamater, John; Ward, Amanda (eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology, Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research, Springer Netherlands, pp. 533–561, doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6772-0_18, ISBN 978-94-007-6772-0
  3. ^ Review of child development research. Volume two. Hoffman, Lois Wladis, 1929-2015,, Hoffman, Martin. New York. 1966-12-31. ISBN 978-1-61044-648-8. OCLC 922324369.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ Locke, Edwin A.; Latham, Gary P. (September 2002). "Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey". American Psychologist. 57 (9): 705–717. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.57.9.705. ISSN 1935-990X. PMID 12237980. S2CID 17534210.
  5. ^ "How Aligned Is Your Organization?". Harvard Business Review. 2017-02-07. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2021-01-26.