Roger T Johnson

University of Minnesota Twin Cities | UMN · Department of Curriculum and Instruction

The International Association of Conflict Management awarded David Johnson the Jeffrey Rubin Theory‐to‐Practice Award for professional achievement in 2010. To extend this recognition of David, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research invited us to publish this tribute. We begin with Dean Tjosvold's discussion of David's career. Daniel Druckman...

This tribute to Morton Deutsch celebrates his unique contributions to social psychological theory, research, cross-cultural applications to business and organizational settings, and cross-species applications. Mort's theorizing progressed from cooperation and competition to trust to conflict resolution to distributive justice, and finally to oppres...

Cooperative learning is an example of how theory validated by research may be applied to instructional practice. The major theoretical base for cooperative learning is social interdependence theory. It provides clear definitions of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning. Hundreds of research studies have validated its basic proposit...

Four of the major theoretical orientations to cooperation and competition are cognitive-development, social-cognitive, behavioural-learning, and social interdependence theories. Of the four, social interdependence theory has generated the most research and applications. The basic premise of social interdependence theory is that the type of interdep...

NATURE OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING Cooperative learning is an application of social interdependence theory (Deutsch, 1949, 1962; Johnson and Johnson, 1989, 2005, 2009). Social interdependence the-ory posits that there are two types of social interdependence, positive (cooper-ative) and negative (competitive). Positive interdependence (i.e., cooperation...

This meta-analysis investigates the degree to which achievement is positively associated with motivation within situations characterized by positive, negative, and no interdependence. First, the relative effects of positive, negative, and no interdependence on motivation and achievement were determined. Then the amount of variance in achievement ex...

The purpose of this article is to present the evidence concerning the impact of cooperative and competitive learning as well as constructive controversy on the development of professional ethics by law students. In addition, cooperative learning and constructive controversy increase student achievement, build better relationships among students, an...

Murayama and Elliot (2012) made a significant contribution to the literature on competition by presenting the results of 2 meta-analyses and 3 primary studies on the relation between competition and performance. Murayama and Elliot established that in general, there is no relationship between competition and performance. They then made the case tha...

This chapter integrates theory, research, and practice on constructive controversy and its role in conflict in interpersonal, intergroup, organizational, and international contexts and in constructive conflict management. In well-structured controversies, participants make an initial judgment, present their conclusions to other group members, are c...

Sixty-one elementary school students who had never participated in cooperative learning lessons before were included in this study. Students were randomly assigned to the conditions of cooperative learning with and without group processing and participated to 5 instructional sessions during a period of approximately 15 instructional days. Results o...

Perhaps Morton Deutsch’s greatest legacy is his theory of social interdependence. Based on the previous theorizing of Kurt Koffka and Kurt Lewin, Deutsch’s formulation of the theory of cooperation and competition brought conceptual clarity to an area full of confusion and contradictions. It is well-formulated, summarizing complex observations in ab...

The relative efficacy of positive task interdependence, positive resource interdependence, and individualistic learning were compared with achievement and academic and personal social support. The authors randomly assigned to conditions 66 7th-grade Italian students with no previous experience in cooperative learning. They participated in 6 90-min...

The effect of cooperative learning in pairs and groups of 4 and in individualistic learning were compared on achievement, social support, and self-esteem. Sixty-two Italian 7th-grade students with no previous experience with cooperative learning were assigned to conditions on a stratified random basis controlling for ability, gender, and self-estee...

We examined the effects of a constructive controversy compared with individualistic learning on 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade students' (N = 56) moral development, ethical skills, academic achievement, and attitudes toward social interdependence. The results indicated that participating in constructive controversy (compared with individualistic learning)...

This chapter argues that inculcating the values that students require in order to function as productive citizens of a democracy is most effectively achieved by ensuring that instruction and schooling are structured to create processes of promotive interaction among students and between students and faculty. The way that goals are structured in ins...

The widespread and increasing use of cooperative learning is one of the great success stories of social and educational psychology. Its success largely rests on the relationships among theory, research, and practice. Social interdependence theory provides a foundation on which cooperative learning is built. More than 1,200 research studies have bee...

Although intellectual conflict may be an important instructional tool (because of its potential constructive outcomes), conflict is rarely structured in instructional situations (because of its potential destructive outcomes). Many educators may be apprehensive about instigating intellectual conflict among students because of the lack of operationa...

The relation between predispositions for conflict resolution (i.e., controversy and conflicts of interests) and orientations toward life and work was investigated in this study. Questionnaires were administered to 135 Chinese employees from four finance, commercial service, and information and technology companies in Beijing. All materials were pre...

Emphasizing the developmental need for positive peer relationships, in this study the authors tested a social-contextual view of the mechanisms and processes by which early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships may be promoted simultaneously. Meta-analysis was used to review 148 independent studies comparing the relative effectiveness of...

The relationship between social interdependence and orientation toward life and work was investigated in this study. Participants were 135 dyads of Chinese employees from 4 companies. Cooperativeness was significantly related to positive indexes of orientation toward life and work, competitiveness was related to a positive orientation toward life,...

Cooperative learning is a classic example of the interaction among theory, research, and practice. It is based on social interdependence theory, whose basic premise is that the way in which goals are structured determines how individuals interact which, in turn, creates outcomes. Over 750 research studies have been conducted in the past eleven deca...

Teachers who wish to use cooperative learning effectively will wish to base their classroom practices on theory validated by research. To do so, they must first understand the nature of social interdependence (that is, cooperative, competitive, and individualistic efforts). Second, teachers need to understand that social interdependence theory is v...

The effectiveness of a conflict resolution and peer mediation program in a suburban Canadian secondary school was examined. Subjects were forty-two ninth-grade English students heterogeneous in academic achievement. A pretest-posttest control-group experimental design was employed. Students randomly assigned to the experimental condition spent ten...

Peace education is a key for establishing and maintaining a consensual peace. Creating an effective peace education program involves five steps. First, a public education system must be established with compulsory attendance; all children and youth should attend so that students from the previously conflicting groups interact and have the opportuni...

This study examines the impact of motives and strategies on the constructiveness of competition. Sixty-four managers and 28 employees from Mainland China organizations described specific incidents of competition, from which indices of constructive competition were developed. They then rated motives and strategies that were hypothesized to affect co...

Social interdependence theory is a classic example of the interaction of theory, research, and practice. The premise of the theory is the way that goals are structured determines how individuals interact, which in turn creates outcomes. Since its formulation nearly 60 years ago, social interdependence theory has been modified, extended, and refined...

Educators, researchers, and policy makers have advocated student involvement for some time as an essential aspect of meaningful learning. In the past twenty years engineering educators have implemented several means of better engaging their undergraduate students, including active and cooperative learning, learning communities, service learning, co...

Of the numerous studies conducted on negotiations, almost all of them have focused on distributive negotiations. The study of integrative negotiations (compared with the study of distributive negotiations) has been relatively neglected due to the lack of (a) conceptual clarity about the nature of integrative negotiations, (b) a theoretical framewor...

An empirical analysis was conducted on the conditions under which competition can be constructive. The participants were 64 managers and 28 employees from organizations in mainland China. They were asked to describe specific incidents of competition between them and their fellow employees and rate on a 7-point Likert-type scale the conditions that...

The authors examined the effectiveness of conflict resolution and peer mediation training among California high school students. The authors randomly assigned 2 of 4 classes to receive 5 weeks of conflict resolution and peer mediation training integrated into the required social studies curriculum. The remaining 2 classes studied the same social st...

The authors examined the effects of positive interdependence vs. no interdependence on students' academic achievement. Participants included 151 U.S. college students who took weekly electronic quizzes on which they could interact with group mates in a chat room. In the positive interdependence condition, 1 member was chosen at random, and his or h...

The purposes of political discourse include (a) clarifying citizens’ understanding of the issue, (b) helping citizens reach their best reasoned judgment as to which course of action will solve a problem, (c) increasing citizen participation in the political process, and (d) socializing the next generation into the procedures and attitudes they need...

The effectiveness of a conflict resolution training program was examined in an American midwestern suburban elementary school. Participants were 80 kindergartners randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition in morning or afternoon time blocks. Children in the experimental condition received 9 hr of conflict resolution training integra...

One-hundred-fifty-eight educators who had participated in the first state-wide cooperative learning staff development training program in South Carolina were surveyed three years later to determine the level of their use of cooperative learning and the factors influencing the effectiveness of the training. The training was conducted during the 1990...

The effectiveness of a conflict-resolution program in a suburban secondary school in Canada was examined. Participants were 40 ninth-grade English students heterogeneous in academic ability. Students randomly assigned to the experimental condition received 9.5 hr of conflict-resolution training integrated into the study of literature. Those randoml...

Students attending a Minnesota school in a middle-class neighborhood are finding that cooperation, conflict resolution, and civic values are creating a safe haven from the stresses of family and neighborhood life. Students have two innovative programs (Continuous Progress and Discovery) to choose from. Highlands Elementary nurtures its students phy...

The effectiveness of a conflict resolution program was examined in a rural K-8 public school in Ontario, Canada. Participants were 111 students in two seventh- and two eighth-grade classes. The two independent variables were (a) the presence versus the absence of the integration of conflict resolution training into an academic English literature un...

While violence prevention programs can be helpful in solving the prob lems facing society and schools, they are an incomplete intervention to prevent destructive conflicts from occurring. Conflict resolution train ing is needed. Training every student how to negotiate and mediate will ensure that future generations are prepared to manage conflicts...

Cooperation provides the power to make American democracy work. Cooperative (not competitive or individualistic) efforts make self-evi dent the truths that all humans are created equal and are endowed with the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is time to recognize the relationship between cooperative learning and commit ment...

The effects of two types of positive interdependence (goal and resource) and attentional temptation on individual performance were compared for teamwork and taskwork situations. Fifty-eight U.S. 5th graders were randomly assigned to one of the following conditions—positive goal interdependence, positive resource interdependence, positive goal inter...

Between 1988 and 1994 we conducted 7 studies on the effectiveness of conflict resolution training in 6 different schools in 2 different countries. Students involved were from first through ninth grades. Two approaches to peer mediation were studied—total student body and school cadre. The studies were conducted in both suburban and urban settings....

The effectiveness of a peer mediation program in a midwestern, suburban school in the United States was examined. Six classes (one combination second/third grade, one third grade, two fourth grades, and two fifth grades) containing 144 students received 9 hr of training in negotiating integrative agreements to their conflicts and mediating their cl...

The impacts of cooperative and competitive efforts on problem solving were compared. In order to resolve the controversy over whether cooperation promotes higher- or lower-quality individual problem solving than does competition, 46 studies, published between 1929 and 1993, were examined. The findings from these studies were classified in 4 categor...

The impact of individual feedback was compared with the impact of group feedback on achievement, attitudes, and behavior in cooperative learning groups. Fifty-six American eighth-grade students studying German were randomly assigned to conditions stratified for academic ability and knowledge of the German language and culture. During an 11-week per...

The effects of cooperative and individualistic learning on the achievement and attitudes of high-ability students were compared. Thirty-four high-ability U.S. students were randomly assigned to a cooperative or an individualistic learning condition. The students, who participated in six 55-min instructional sessions, were presented with the same sc...

Although creative controversy often occurs naturally within cooperative learning groups, it may be considerably enhanced when teachers structure academic controversies. This involves dividing a cooperative group into two pairs and assigning them opposing positions. The pairs then develop their position, present it to the other pair, listen to the o...

The impact of cooperative learning, compared with the impact of traditional navy instruction, on achievement, performance, attrition rate, and attitudes of American navy air traffic controller trainees was investigated. A class of 12 air traffic controller trainees participated in a cooperative learning condition during the Charts and Publications...

Group processing was examined as a variable mediating the relationship between cooperative learning and achievement. Group processing may be defined as a review of a group session to describe the member actions that were helpful and unhelpful and to decide what actions to continue or change. Four conditions were included in the study: cooperative l...

Despite the considerable evidence that cooperation promotes higher individual achievement and greater group productivity than do competitive or individualistic situations, there are conditions under which the opposite may be true. The relative impact of positive goal interdependence and positive resource interdependence on individual achievement an...

The effects of computer-assisted cooperative, competitive, and individualistic instruction were compared on achievement, student-student interaction, and attitudes. Seventy-four eighth-grade students were randomly assigned to conditions, stratifying for sex and ability. Computer-assisted cooperative instruction promoted greater quantity and quality...

The impact on achievement of (a) cooperative learning, in which members discussed how well their group was functioning and how they could improve its effectiveness, (b) cooperative learning without any group processing, and (c) individualistic learning were compared on daily achievement, postinstructional achievement, and retention. Third-grade Ame...

Intergroup cooperation and competition were compared to determine their impact on cross-ethnic relationships. We assigned 48 sixth-grade students to conditions stratifying for minority status, ability, and sex. They participated in a study for 55 min a day for 10 instructional days. The results indicated that more positive cross-ethnic relationship...

Hypothesized that the effects of cooperative experiences on cross-ethnic and cross-sex relationships would be strongest for structured class activities, next strongest for unstructured class activities in the broader school environment, and least strong for activities in students' homes. In Study 1, 74 6th graders were randomly assigned to 3 condit...

This article presents a theoretical framework specifying the conditions under which physical proximity and interaction will lead to positive or negative relationships between (a) ethnically diverse individuals, (b) handicapped and nonhandicapped individuals, and (c) ethnically similar and nonhandicapped individuals. A review of literature supportin...

The effects of cooperative and individualistic learning experiences were compared on interpersonal attraction between handicapped and non-handicapped third-grade students. Forty students were assigned to conditions on a stratified random basis controlling for handicap, ability, sex, and peer popularity. Students participated in an instructional mat...

Goals of engineering education, instructional methods and research on instructional goal structures are discussed.

The effects of cooperative and individualistic learning experiences on interpersonal attraction between handicapped and nonhandicapped fourth-grade students were compared. Fifty-one students were assigned to conditions on a stratified random basis controlling for handicap, ability, and sex. Students participated in one instructional unit for 45 min...

Fifty-two Canadian undergraduates participated in a cooperative task in which a confederate (C) (posing as an S) demonstrated high or low ability and high or low effort. All Ss failed on the task because of the low performance of the C. The results indicate that when future contact in work or social settings was assumed, high-effort partners were b...

The effects of interpersonal cooperation, competition, and individualistic efforts were compared on students' achievement and perceptions of teacher and peer academic and personal support. Sixty-nine fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students were included in the study. Males and females were randomly assigned to conditions so that within each conditi...

The effects of interpersonal cooperation, competition, and individualization were compared on drill-review, problem-solving, specific-knowledge acquisition, and specific-knowledge retention instructional tasks. Sixty-six fifth graders were included in the study. Males and females were assigned randomly to conditions so that within each condition th...

The effects of interpersonal cooperation, competition, and individualistic efforts were compared on math and reading drill-review, story problems, sequencing, triangle identification, and visual sorting according to attributes tasks. Sixty-four first-grade students were included in the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to conditions stratifyin...

The way in which learning goals are structured determines the student-student and teacher-student interaction patterns in the classroom, which in turn greatly affect the outcomes resulting from instruction. The effects of two methods of structuring learning goals—cooperatively and individualistically—were compared on a series of attitudinal and per...

The four major theoretical orientations to cooperation and competition are cognitive development, behavioral learning, social cognitive, and social interdependence. Of the four, social interdependence theory has generated the most research and applications. The basic premise of social interdependence theory is that the type of interdependence struc...

Abstract In order to prevent bullying and harm-intended aggression, positive relationships in which students frequently engage in prosocial actions must be developed among,students. The more positive the relationships among,students (and the fewer the isolated and alienated students) and the more frequently students engage in prosocial behaviors th...

Peace education is aimed at teaching individuals the information, attitudes, values, and behavioral competencies needed to resolve confl icts without violence and to build and maintain mutually benefi cial, harmonious relationships. There are many approaches to peace education, many of which are based on ideology, practical experience, and good int...

Mayo de 1997; revisado en setiembre de 1997.

Con bases en la psicología social y en prácticas en la enseñanza, los autores proponen un método para el uso sistemático del aprendizaje cooperativo, competitivo e individual en el aula. El método contiene estrategias para seleccionar e implementar cada forma de aprendizaje, e incluye métodos para manejar y evaluar las interacciones entre estudiant...