Multicultural Experiences and the Secondary Transfer Effect of Intercultural Attitudes

Abstract

Abstract. This research investigates whether multicultural experiences (MCEs) (1) improve attitudes toward primary outgroups, (2) improve attitudes toward secondary outgroups (the “secondary transfer effect”) – depending on the perceived similarity versus dissimilarity of the target group, and (3) affect ingroup reappraisal. The deprovincialization and attitude generalization hypotheses were also investigated as underlying mechanisms. A meta-analysis of effects across studies ( N = 633) revealed MCEs (1) improve primary attitudes ( r = .19), (2) improve, albeit more weakly, similar secondary attitudes ( r = .10), but have no significant effect on dissimilar secondary attitudes ( r = .07); (3) have no effect on ingroup reappraisal ( r = .04), and (4) only improve secondary attitudes through attitude generalization. Contributions, limitations, and emerging questions regarding deprovincialization are discussed.