Imagined Intergroup Contact and Common Ingroup Identity

Loris Vezzali,Dora Capozza,Dino Giovannini,Richard J. Crisp,Sofia Stathi,Samuel L. Gaertner

doi:10.1027/1864-9335/a000242

Abstract

Abstract. We conducted two studies involving two different age groups (elementary school children and adults) aimed at integrating imagined contact and common ingroup identity models. In the first study, Italian elementary school children were asked to imagine interacting with an unknown immigrant peer as members of a common group. Results revealed that common ingroup imagined contact, relative to a control condition, improved outgroup helping intentions assessed 1 week and 2 weeks after the intervention. In the second study, common ingroup imagined contact led Italian university students to display higher intentions to have contact with immigrants compared to control conditions. In conclusion, results from both studies demonstrate that imagining an intergroup interaction as members of the same group strengthens the effects of imagined contact. These findings point to the importance of combining the common ingroup identity model and the imagined contact theory in order to increase the potentiality of prejudice reduction interventions.

Highlights

We would like to thank Paola Spagnol and the other teachers for their help in the organization of the study
Common ingroup imagined contact led Italian university students to display higher intentions to have contact with immigrants compared to control conditions. Results from both studies demonstrate that imagining an intergroup interaction as members of the same group strengthens the effects of imagined contact. These findings point to the importance of combining the common ingroup identity model and the imagined contact theory in order to increase the potentiality of prejudice reduction interventions
Our expectation is that common ingroup imagined contact, which combines imagined contact with principles derived from the common ingroup identity model, will have stronger effects than both standard imagined contact and classic control conditions used in imagined contact research

Summary

Introduction

We would like to thank Paola Spagnol and the other teachers for their help in the organization of the study. The positive effects of common identity on these evaluations generalized to the outgroup as a whole immediately following recategorization, and these effects persisted for at least three weeks Despite their effectiveness, anti-bias interventions based on direct contact may be difficult to implement in real-world settings such as public schools (as in Study 1) because of practical constraints. We believe targeting prejudice in schools is especially relevant, given that schools are increasingly multicultural and children spend most of their wakeful time in this setting To this end imagined contact, compared to direct contact, requires less time, imposes fewer logistical problems involving space, resources and the potentially disruptive role of intergroup anxiety (Crisp & Turner, 2012).In our research, we aim to combine the benefits of adopting a common ingroup identity with an indirect contact strategy that is practical to implement and extremely flexible: imagined contact

Objectives

Results

Conclusion