The effectiveness of measures used to produce social change in real-life situations can be evaluated in terms of three sets of interacting and related factors: (1) the kinds of group relations involved, i.e., positive or negative, (2) the relative differential socio-economic power of the cooperating or conflicting groups, i.e., dominant or subordinate, and (3) the nature of social change involved, i.e., whether or not it implies a significant and qualitative change in the prevailing status quo. The major thesis of this paper is that the precondition for applying any measure to combat prejudice and discrimination is the preexistence of intergroup conflict perceived by the dominant groups as constituting a major threat, actual or potential, to the prevailing status quo. Superordinate goals produced by intergroup conflict are presented as a necessary prerequisite for the subsequent effective implementation of measures used to reduce intergroup conflict and hostility.
