Abstract
The present research aims to test whether varying the sequential position in which majority members recall positive and negative contacts with migrants affects the linguistic descriptions of these episodes - in terms of abstraction and valence - provided by majority group members. We also tested whether participants' prior contact with migrants and distance in time of the recalled contact experiences moderated the effect of the recall on linguistic discrimination. Across two experimental studies, evidence consistently showed that participants who recalled first positive and then negative interactions expressed less linguistic discrimination against migrants in the second event recalled, compared to those who recalled two negative interactions. Moreover, participants who reported having fewer positive intergroup experiences expressed less linguistic discrimination against migrants in recalling negative and then positive interactions, compared to recalling two positive interactions. Findings of Study 2 also revealed an effect of the temporal distance of the recalled events, with more beneficial effects of positive-negative sequences of contact when participants retrieved temporally recent compared to distant intergroup encounters. Overall, this research highlights the key role of positive contact in counteracting the effects of negative contact, leading to a reduction in linguistic discrimination.
Highlights
The present research aims to test whether varying the sequential position in which majority members recall positive and negative contacts with migrants affects the linguistic descriptions of these episodes - in terms of abstraction and valence - provided by majority group members
In order to test how recalling experiences of positive and negative contacts impacts on the language used in descriptions of migrant people, we conducted two studies in which we examined the language used by Italian respondents in describing their recall of real interactions with migrant people living in Italy
We found evidence for a buffering effect, since majority group members who recalled first positive, and negative interactions expressed less linguistic discrimination against migrants in the second contact they recalled compared to majority group members who recalled two negative interactions
Summary
The present research aims to test whether varying the sequential position in which majority members recall positive and negative contacts with migrants affects the linguistic descriptions of these episodes - in terms of abstraction and valence - provided by majority group members. To test the effects of differently valenced contact on discrimination of the majority group towards migrants, linguistic descriptions of intergroup encounters represent a fertile field of investigation. Language, intended as a behaviour through which individuals create and share their representations of social reality (Semin, 2000), can fulfill the goal of transmitting and maintaining stereotypic and biased images of outgroup members (Maass & Arcuri, 1996) Individuals can pursue this goal by varying positive and negative valence as well as the abstraction of words (Semin & Fiedler, 1988) – a structural property of language which is not so monitored by speakers nor consciously processed by receivers (Moscatelli & Rubini, 2011; for a review, see Rubini, Menegatti, & Moscatelli, 2014).
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