Walking in My Shoes: Imagined Synchrony Improves Attitudes Towards Out-groups

Gray Atherton,Liam Cross

doi:10.1007/s12646-020-00568-6

Abstract

People are prone to dividing others into the categories of ‘us’ and ‘them’. This can be particularly detrimental to minorities who may experience social exclusion, prejudice, and reduced access to equal opportunities. One method of improving intergroup relations is to create opportunities for contact. Common contact interventions have members of different groups meet and engage in conversation. There are also non-verbal embodied intergroup activities that produce the same effects. Previous work has shown that the pro-social effects of coordination may be linked to whether co-actors are classed as in or out-group members. The current study explored whether imagining walking in synchrony with in- or out-group members changed majority members’ attitudes towards those individuals. Imagining walking in synchrony fostered greater increases in empathy and decreases in negative attitudes only towards minority group members following imagined coordination (not in-groups). Implications and future directions are discussed.

Highlights

People are social creatures; we define ourselves by our affiliations, and in turn we gravitate towards the people who we see in ourselves
The current study explored whether imagining walking in synchrony with inor out-group members changed majority members’ attitudes towards those individuals
This is supported by behavioural studies which show that interpersonal coordination can to lead to greater pro-sociality amongst co-actors by increasing rapport (Hove & Risen, 2009), affiliation (Reddish, Fischer, & Bulbulia, 2013), cooperation (Cross, Wilson, & Golonka, 2016) and helping (Cross, Micheal, Wilsdon, Henson, & Atherton, 2020) amongst those who take part

Summary

Introduction

People are social creatures; we define ourselves by our affiliations, and in turn we gravitate towards the people who we see in ourselves. One possible means of reducing negative stereotypes may be to have people engage in coordinated movement with individuals from disenfranchised groups, such as walking in synchrony with them This is supported by behavioural studies which show that interpersonal coordination can to lead to greater pro-sociality amongst co-actors by increasing rapport (Hove & Risen, 2009), affiliation (Reddish, Fischer, & Bulbulia, 2013), cooperation (Cross, Wilson, & Golonka, 2016) and helping (Cross, Micheal, Wilsdon, Henson, & Atherton, 2020) amongst those who take part. We predicted that there would be positive changes in empathy and attitudes towards refugees, but not fellow UK citizens, following imagined synchronous walking

Design and Participants

Procedure and Materials

Results

Discussion