Shaking hands while trading punches: exploring the paradox of rival cooperation

Although rival competition is expected, rival cooperation presents a surprising paradox. This paper evaluates the psychological mechanisms that explain when and why actors may seek to cooperate more with rival competitors than they would with non-rival competitors. In particular, I explore the idea that rivalry is a unique competitive relationship whereby rivals, despite their intense competition, develop a sense of shared identity with one another, which in turn can facilitate cooperation under certain circumstances. Across two studies evaluating rivalry at the country level and the individual level respectively, this research explores mechanisms that facilitate the development of shared identity among rivals, while also evaluating the extent to which rivals are willing to cooperate with one anothe