Online intergroup contact and intergroup attitudes: A cross sectional and a longitudinal study of Greeks and Germans interacting on Twitter and Facebook

Abstract

The current study examined social networking sites, specifically Twitter and Facebook, as spaces for intergroup communication and contact between members of two national groups, Germans and Greeks, during the turbulent times of the Greek economic crisis. A cross-sectional study on Twitter and a longitudinal study on Facebook were conducted. We examined how social psychological variables (such as prior and extended contact, friendship, intergroup anxiety, national identification) and variables specific to the communication context (such as perceived quality of contact, vicarious contact quality, perceived anonymity, self-disclosure) relate to intergroup attitudes. Both social psychological and communication-relevant variables statistically significantly and independently predicted intergroup attitudes. Moreover, the longitudinal study showed that online contact improved intergroup attitudes and reduced intergroup anxiety. Findings suggest that intergroup contact via social networking sites can have positive effects on intergroup attitudes and that both social psychological and communication-related variables are important in understanding these effects.