How intergroup contact and communication about group differences predict collective action intentions among advantaged groups

Abstract

Though greater intergroup contact has been shown to predict greater support for social change among advantaged group members, little is known about what occurs during the contact that may encourage members of advantaged groups to become willing to engage in collective action in solidarity with the disadvantaged. We argue that intergroup contact with disadvantaged group members may motivate advantaged group members’ willingness to engage in collective action through the mediating pathway of communication about group differences in power during contact. Two studies tested this proposition by examining how advantaged group members communicate about group differences with disadvantaged groups during contact in two distinct national contexts: White Americans in contact with Black Americans in the U.S. (Study 1) and Turks in contact with Kurds in Turkey (Study 2). In addition, Study 2 extended the research by specifying that it is communication about group differences in power—not communication about group differences in culture—that mediates the relation between advantaged group members’ contact with the disadvantaged and their willingness to engage in collective action in solidarity with the disadvantaged. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research on intergroup contact, along with highlighting the importance of communicating about power differences across group lines.