Majority members’ endorsement of the acculturation integrationist orientation improves their outgroup attitudes toward ethnic minority members: An electronic-contact experiment

Abstract

An electronic intercultural contact intervention was deployed in the present study to enhance Israeli majority students’ level of Integrationist endorsement toward Israeli Ethiopian minority members. The study intervention involved synchronous text-chat across three sessions administered online over three weeks, and required pairs of majority students (n = 44) and Ethiopian students (n = 44) to work collaboratively on planning a social-cultural trip and come up with a ‘travel guide’ that satisfies the needs of the interacting students’ cultural groups (Integration). The study evaluated both short-term (one week) and long-term (six weeks) effects of the intervention on majority members’ outgroup attitudes. The study findings revealed that, compared to majority controls (n = 41), participants in the intervention condition reported a greater decrease in intergroup bias and anxiety in the short- and long-terms. A mediation effect of intergroup anxiety was also found; the intervention reduced majority members’ intergroup anxiety in the short-term which was related to reduced long-term intergroup bias. These encouraging findings highlight that carefully designed cooperative electronic-contact programs tailored to promote majority individuals’ endorsement of the Integrationist orientation, can offer an efficacious route to acculturation researchers interested in promoting this strategy, improving in turn majority members’ outgroup attitudes toward minorities.