Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: What are the reason(s) for writing the paper. What are the aims and objectives of the research? What are the research questions the research aims to address? The aim of this study is to compare and contrast null objects in Paraguayan Spanish and Paraguayan Guarani to revisit the hypothesis that the high rate of null objects in Paraguayan Spanish is due to contact with Guarani. The study thus aims to address the following questions: How do Paraguayan Spanish null objects compare to null objects in Guarani in spontaneous speech? Do people who code-switch between Spanish and Guarani have a higher rate of null object in their Spanish? Design/Methodology/Approach: How are the objectives achieved? What is the scope of the research? What are the main method(s) used for the research? What is the methodological approach to the topic? A usage-based approach to language guides the present study. Proposed linguistic patterns for Spanish and for Guarani emerge from the thorough exploration of authentic naturalistic speech. Data and Analysis: What is the database for the research, including sample size? How are the data analyzed? A total of 6,972 transitive sentences were extracted from CEGPA (Corpus del Español y Guaraní Paraguayos de Asunción), a database of 14 speakers of Paraguayan Spanish (25,374 intonation units). The sentences were coded by language, object type, object animacy, verb lexemes, and social factors. Findings/Conclusions: What are the key findings of the research? What conclusions can be drawn from the research? Null object patterns in Paraguayan Spanish are almost identical to those in Guarani, a language without object pronouns for inanimate objects. In Spanish, speakers who code-switch between Guarani and Spanish never used the direct object clitic to refer to an inanimate object; they used null instantiation instead. Non-code-switchers preferred null objects over clitics 98% of the time. Animate null objects were rare across languages and speakers. Originality: What is new or different in the paper in terms of theory, method, and/or finding? To test the contact hypothesis, the study explores null object rates in both languages and compares them side by side, which has not been previously done in the case of Paraguayan Spanish and Guarani. Significance/Implications: What is the theoretical value of the research? What are the methodological implications of the research? What are the implications for policy and practice, if applicable? This research contributes to the understanding of Paraguayan Spanish as a contact variety and to the limited studies on Guarani from a corpus and usage-based perspective. It also shows that an in-depth comparison between linguistic patterns between two languages can elucidate whether or not certain features originate from contact. Limitations: What are the limitations of the research? What suggestions for future research can be made? Elicitation tasks can help study more nuances among null objects across languages, for example, the effect of object semantics on animate null objects. More information about the linguistic profile of each speaker can also contribute to better understanding null object phenomena.

This study investigated Japanese students’ perceived learning outcomes from a short-term program jointly conducted by the University of Tokyo and Asian University for Women in Bangladesh through the lens of intercultural competence and the contact hypothesis. Qualitative data were derived primarily from Japanese students’ essays. Inductive analysis revealed that intergroup interactions enhanced Japanese students’ awareness of social inequalities, diverse ethnic identities, prevailing stereotypes against the Global South, their own privilege, and Japan’s colonial legacy. This study makes theoretical contributions by illuminating the potential for inappropriate and ineffective interactions with outgroup peers. These findings suggest that educators should create environments where learners feel safe in making communicative mistakes and avoid hastily developing learners’ intercultural competence.

Abstract According to Allport's Contact Hypothesis, contact with individuals from different social groups fosters positive intergroup relations under certain conditions. Building on this theoretical framework, we examined the effects of direct (Study 1) and indirect (extended; Study 2) contact with refugees within (two different types of) Italian welcome projects in promoting positive intergroup relations. In Study 1, we surveyed 99 professionals and volunteers who experienced direct contact with refugees by working on welcome projects, which encourage asymmetrical (status inequality) or symmetrical (status equality) contact with refugees. We analyzed their promotion of extended contact. In Study 2, we surveyed 173 participants who had indirect extended contact with refugees, being proxies of the professionals and volunteers from Study 1. We assessed their intention to engage in prosocial behaviors in support of refugees. Participants completed questionnaires measuring intergroup trust, anxiety, stigma (Study 1), and refugee attitudes (Study 2). Results showed that both direct and indirect contact with refugees were associated with promoting extended contact (Study 1) and prosocial behaviors (Study 2). These effects were mediated by stigma in Study 1, and by attitudes toward refugees in Study 2. The study highlights the importance of contact within Italian welcome projects in fostering positive intergroup relations.

In an increasingly pluralistic modern society, interactions between individuals from various social, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds present both opportunities and challenges in maintaining social harmony. This article aims to examine the relationship between social identity, stereotypes, and social prejudice through a systematic literature review of recent empirical and theoretical research. Based on Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), group identity is an important basis for forming self-perceptions and attitudes toward other groups. This social categorization process often gives rise to in-group favoritism and out-group bias, which then become the root of the emergence of stereotypes and social prejudice. The results of this study indicate that stereotypes act as cognitive mechanisms that simplify social reality, but also reinforce bias and discrimination, particularly through digital media and existing social structures. Meanwhile, social prejudice is a negative affective expression toward other groups that has a broad impact on psychological well-being and intergroup relations. Contemporary studies confirm that interventions based on empathy, perspective-taking, and the contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2011) are effective in reducing prejudice and increasing social inclusiveness. This article emphasizes that managing complex and inclusive social identities is key to building a more tolerant and harmonious society in the era of globalization and digitalization.

Thomas Schelling introduced his agent-based model of segregation in 1971 and concluded that even when there is a low amount of intolerance within society that segregation will develop if people follow their individual preferences. A large body of literature building of this framework has been built and has bolstered this claim. This paper aims to take the same framework but instead look for ways to get to an integrated state. We focus on Allport’s contact hypothesis that states that if there is equal status among groups, common goals among groups, and an institutional mechanism supporting intergroup contact then intergroup contact can reduce prejudice. We incorporate the contact hypothesis by having individuals adjust their intolerance based on their current neighborhood composition and the ease of conforming to their surroundings. Furthermore, we add in positive and negative media effects, as individuals are likely to get information about an outgroup from the media (e.g., news, TV, movies, etc.) that they consume. We find that having a society composed of individuals who do not easily conform to their surroundings and displaying positive examples of both groups in media promote integration within society.

China’s rapid population aging has increased demand for high-quality eldercare and exposed weaknesses in education and training. Vocational colleges that prepare the care workforce and universities for the aged that promote active aging have developed on separate tracks, creating a split system in which youth programs stress technical skills and elder programs focus on leisure. This article analyzes an integrated experiment in Guangzhou, the Symbiotic Education for Aging Initiative, and proposes symbiotic governance to reconnect these subsystems. Drawing on Structural Functionalism, Situated Learning Theory, the Intergroup Contact Hypothesis, and Activity Theory, the study uses an embedded single-case design, combining policy and program documents with institutional data on certification, employment, older adults’ participation, and employer feedback. It first identifies three main problems in the current system (curriculum split, scenario isolation, faculty gaps), then reconstructs the initiative as an ecosystem of institutional permeability, youth–silver co-learning, and spatial–digital extension, and finally presents indicative improvements in student outcomes, older adults’ agency, and industry alignment. Conceptually, the article advances the ideas of symbiotic education, institutionalized empathy, and a possible third demographic dividend, where intergenerational learning turns older adults’ time and experience into renewed human and social capital.

Purpose: The purpose of this article was to role of homestay tourism in enhancing cultural exchange in coastal Kenya Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: The study found that homestay tourism significantly strengthens direct interactions between tourists and host families, allowing visitors to experience authentic aspects of life in coastal Kenya. Through shared daily routines, guests gained a deeper appreciation of local traditions, including cuisine, language, and cultural practices. Homestay hosts also benefited from the exchanges, noting that they acquired fresh perspectives and knowledge from their visitors. The findings further showed that organized cultural activities such as storytelling, traditional dances, and craft demonstrations enhanced visitors’ understanding of coastal heritage. Overall, the research concluded that homestay tourism is an effective avenue for fostering meaningful cultural exchange, promoting mutual respect, and supporting the preservation of coastal Kenya’s cultural identity. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Social Exchange Theory, Contact Hypothesis and Theory of Cultural Authenticity may be used to anchor future studies on Role of Homestay Tourism in Enhancing Cultural Exchange in Coastal Kenya. For homestay operators and associations, enhancing authentic exchange requires moving from ad-hoc hosting to a deliberate, professionally supported "Cultural Exchange Management" system. County and national governments must transition from regulating homestays solely as accommodation providers to recognizing and incentivizing their role as Critical Infrastructure for Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Safeguarding.

This article offers an exegetical and theological reading of Ananias’ involvement in Saul’s restoration (Acts 9:10–19) through the lens of the Contact Hypothesis. In this pericope, Ananias’ response balances an honest acknowledgement of the effects of Saul’s violence on his community with a courageous commitment to risky, personal contact. The paper argues that the Ananias-Saul narrative can provide both a theological perspective on, and a corrective to, the Contact Hypothesis, developing a praxis-based model for responding to the effects of violence and to its perpetrators. Case studies are drawn from the author’s experience in an integration sports project in Glasgow that facilitated contact among refugees, asylum seekers, and communities on either side of the city’s sectarian divide.

This article leverages the quasi-random assignment of college roommates among freshmen enrolled at a large university in the Northeast between 2012 and 2016 to examine how the racial and ethnic background of first-year roommates shapes subsequent residential choices. Specifically, we investigate the influence of freshman-year roommate composition on the racial and ethnic diversity of students’ sophomore-year dorm rooms and their post-graduation neighborhoods. Our findings indicate that students randomly assigned to a roommate of a different race or ethnicity are more than twice as likely to live in a racially and ethnically diverse dorm room during their sophomore year compared to those who elect to live with a roommate from the same racial and ethnic background as themselves. However, we find limited evidence that these early residential experiences influence levels of diversity in the neighborhoods students elect to live in after graduation. Overall, these results offer mixed support for the contact hypothesis.

This study explores how ethnic identity and intergroup prejudice are shaped, expressed and challenged within basketball fandom in North Macedonia, a multi-ethnic and divided society. While sports fan culture is widely recognized as a platform where group belonging and identity are developed, there is limited qualitative research in the Balkans that examines how these identities intersect with ethnic divisions in everyday fan practices. In particular, this study looks at whether sports can serve as a tool for inclusion and reducing ethnic-based prejudice among fans in post-conflict and multi-ethnic societies. To address this gap, we conducted six focus group discussions with 30 members of ethnic-Macedonian and ethnic-Albanian basketball fan groups. Using thematic analysis, we analyzed (a) how fan identities are shaped by group and ethnic belonging and expressed through group symbols, loyalty, and rituals; (b) how intergroup prejudice and exclusion are expressed through perceptions of rivalry and national representation, and (c) whether extended intergroup contact can reduce prejudice among fans. Our findings reveal that fan identities are intertwined with broader socio-political narratives, and that sporting spaces often reinforce, rather than bridge, symbolic boundaries. In addition, Extended Contact Hypothesis (ECH) remains largely ineffective due to emotional detachment and conditional acceptance of the other. These insights offer further understanding of the role of sports and the limitations of contact-based interventions in divided societies, such as North Macedonia.

PurposeThis study examined a structured intervention designed to enhance intercultural competence and intergroup relations among Arab and Jewish students in a physical education teacher education (PETE) program in Israel.MethodThe 12-week ‘Roaming Course’ included 41 students (14 Arab, 27 Jewish), four study tours in mixed Arab-Jewish cities, and four on-campus sessions. Co-taught by an Arab and a Jewish instructor, the course integrated theoretical instruction, intercultural dialogue, and sport-based activities, drawing on the Contact Hypothesis, the Multi-Dimensional Model of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC), and the Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) framework. Qualitative data were collected from students’ reflective journals.ResultsFindings showed that structured intergroup contact in the PETE framework fostered trust, reduced prejudice, and enhanced intercultural awareness, empathy, and professional identity.Discussion and conclusionThe study highlights sport’s role in bridging divides and presents a pedagogical model for higher education institutions promoting intercultural competence in diverse societies.

This study examines the effectiveness of group-based multicultural counseling integrated with Participatory Action Research (PAR) in restoring social cohesion within a post-conflict multiethnic community in Gampong Wonosari, Aceh. The research aimed to design, implement, and evaluate a counseling model that addresses persistent polarization between Javanese and Gayo communities. A PAR design with two intervention cycles was employed, each consisting of planning, counseling sessions, observation, and collaborative reflection. Fourteen purposively selected participants (8 Javanese and 6 Gayo) were involved, screened using the Multicultural Social Relation Vulnerability Questionnaire (MSRVQ). Data collection combined the Multicultural Social Relation Observation Sheet (MSROS), reflection notes, and thematic analysis using NVivo, while quantitative changes were tested with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and effect size calculation. Results demonstrated a significant improvement in interethnic relations: the overall empowerment score increased from 54.54% in Cycle I to 72.07% in Cycle II, with individual scores rising from 62.50% to 73.89% (Z = –2.94, p < 0.01, r = 0.65). Qualitative findings supported these outcomes, showing enhanced empathy, greater openness, and increased confidence in intercultural interactions. This study contributes theoretically by contextualizing Social Learning Theory and the Contact Hypothesis in rural post-conflict communities and methodologically by integrating PAR with mixed-methods counseling interventions. Practically, it provides a replicable model for policymakers, educators, and civil society organizations to strengthen social cohesion in plural societies beyond Aceh.

The effect of racial threat on racial disparities in sentencing has yielded inconsistent findings. One explanation involves the widespread use of the percentage of the Black population to measure racial threat, which assumes that decision-makers respond to general demographic patterns. However, it is more plausible that prosecutors are influenced by the racial composition of their specific caseloads. A multilevel analysis using the percent of Black drug defendants, rather than an overall racial composition population measure, fails to support racial threat theory or the contact hypothesis. Nonetheless, Black drug defendants remain significantly more likely than similarly situated White defendants to receive incarcerative sentences, indicating that racial disparities persist even when alternative threat measures are used when examining large urban U.S. counties.

Abstract This paper explores the intricate locative system of Helvécian Portuguese, a lesser-known Afro-Brazilian variety spoken by descendants of formerly enslaved Africans in the rural community of Helvécia, Bahia. The variety offers a comprehensive case of contact-induced change. Unlike Standard Portuguese, which uses prepositions such as em ‘in, on, at’ to encode location, Helvécian Portuguese exhibits a variable system centered around the multifunctional preposition ni. Functionally similar to the Yorùbá preposition ní, ni heads the Basic Locative Construction in Helvécian Portuguese and encodes motion. The results of this study suggest that Helvécian Portuguese was significantly influenced by Yorùbá during its formation period in the 19th century, supported by sociohistorical evidence of a consistent Yorùbá presence in the settlement then known as Colônia Leopoldina. The semantic parallels found between the Yorùbá and Helvécian locative systems reinforce the contact hypothesis, suggesting a language congruence phenomenon in which non-native speakers adopted familiar spatial encoding strategies. This paper contributes to the broader understanding of Afro-Brazilian Portuguese by documenting an innovative locative system shaped by Niger-congo languages within the colonial Brazilian context.

This qualitative case study examines how undergraduate students from the education faculties of Türkiye and Italy navigated the processes of group development, leadership, and communication throughout a six-month online eTwinning Initial Teacher Education (ITE) project conducted in the 2024-2025 academic year. Written reflections by 75 participants were collected at both the project’s onset and completion. Drawing on Tuckman’s model of group development and Allport’s contact hypothesis, the analysis identifies initial challenges such as language barriers and weak cohesion that were alleviated by AI translation tools acting as a makeshift lingua franca. By the end of the exchange, despite some underperforming groups, most teams achieved high levels of collaboration and reported substantial personal and professional growth, including stronger digital competencies and greater intercultural sensitivity. Ultimately, these findings illustrate that well-structured international telecollaboration projects, underpinned by proactive peer leadership, purposeful technology use, and expert scaffolding, can serve as powerful catalysts for fostering inclusive and digitally competent teacher education.

ABSTRACT Planning inclusive cities requires understanding the factors shaping residents’ attitudes towards outgroup members, including how exposure to migrants influences these views. While previous research has examined the relationship between neighborhood diversity and attitudes, this diversity is typically measured from a residential standpoint. Building on the mobility turn in social science, this study expands the lens by incorporating the role of visitor diversity—that is, individuals who reside in other neighborhoods but pass through a given area. Drawing on geolocated survey responses from 1,566 participants in Belgium and Twitter data from 31,488 users to capture patterns of visitor mobility, we find that a higher proportion of migrants among both residents and visitors is associated with more positive attitudes toward migrants, consistent with the contact hypothesis. These findings have implications for urban policy, suggesting that promoting inclusion requires attention not only to residential integration but also to the dynamics of everyday mobility.

Social network homogeneity is considered one of the key drivers of the rise in affective polarization. As opportunities for contact with different others decrease, out‐group animosity increases, fueling political conflict and destabilizing democracy. At the same time, research suggests that diverse social networks foster tolerance for opposing viewpoints. Consistent with the contact hypothesis, empirical studies show that individuals with more politically diverse networks hold more favorable attitudes toward their political opponents. However, it remains unclear whether network heterogeneity affects intergroup relations in the same way as intergroup contact or whether it represents a distinct source of depolarization. Furthermore, there is limited empirical evidence on the psychological mechanisms through which network heterogeneity influences attitudes toward political opponents. In this article, we address these gaps by presenting the results of a 2019 survey study (<span class="fontstyle2">𝑁 = </span><span class="fontstyle0">378) conducted in Poland, within a highly polarized context. We show that having a more heterogeneous social network in terms of partisanship is indirectly related to more positive attitudes toward political opponents—an effect explained sequentially by diminished moral conviction and weakened party identification, as well as by weakened party identification alone. Contrary to what has been assumed, this effect is independent of traditionally operationalized intergroup contact, both in terms of its quantity and quality.</span>

The contact hypothesis proposes that positive intergroup encounters can causally improve intergroup attitudes, and its tenants have informed prejudice reduction efforts across the globe. Most support for the hypothesis is correlational, as it is assumed that correlations (partially) reflect a pattern whereby increases in positive intergroup contact cause increases in intergroup warmth. In the present article we interrogate this assumption. Latent growth class analysis can group people showing similar patterns of change over time into classes. We use this method to enumerate what percentage of people report co-occurring increases in intergroup contact and warmth over time. Using preexisting data sets, we examined starting points and trajectories of positive intergroup contact (Studies 1 and 2) and cross-group friendship (3 and 4). We drew on samples of adults from New Zealand (Study 1, N = 15,384) and Germany (Study 2, N = 2,726; Study 4, N = 1,667), and a sample of adolescents from the Netherlands (Study 3, N = 2,949). Fourteen intergroup contexts were examined. Results revealed contact varied markedly between persons; people were consistently grouped into classes characterized by high versus low levels of intergroup contact. Critically, however, few people reported substantive increases in intergroup contact. Instead, people reported relatively stable levels of intergroup contact across periods of up to 5 years. No single class emerged in which contact increased, and attitudes changed from negative to positive. One of the four studies found classes characterized by very small co-occurring increases in positive contact and intergroup warmth. We conclude with a discussion on the role of contact in our contemporary world. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

This study of a corpus of varieties of Spanish finds that the level of orality of a text is a strong predictor of subject pronoun expression. Following previous studies’ application of orality to interrogative constructions in Brazilian Portuguese and French, an orality measurement was adapted for Spanish and applied to the new corpus Corpus Diacrónico del Español Latinoamericano: Edición de Sujetos (CorDELES). CorDELES was created to investigate the historic development of subject pronoun expression that led to the high rates of overt subject pronouns attested in current varieties of Latin American Spanish, specifically whether overt subject pronoun expression increases following contact with the enslaved Africans brought to the Caribbean during the colonial period. This contact hypothesis was used as a backdrop to investigate the effects of orality on a corpus. Indeed, the inclusion of orality as a predictor in a mixed-effects model found significant effects for a distinction between Spain and the Americas as well as an intriguing interaction between year and orality. These results add to the burgeoning body of work revealing the benefits of accounting for orality in corpus work.

ABSTRACT This study examines the determinants of public attitudes towards immigrants in Africa, using the contact hypothesis as its framework. This study evaluated how neighbourhood violence affects the acceptance of immigrants using three distinct sample groups: a full sample, a group with no foreign exposure and a group with foreign exposure. This study draws on data from 28 African countries, encompassing 28,685 respondents. Binary logistic regression analysis was employed to investigate the relationship between the independent variables and public acceptance of immigrants. The results indicate that concerns about neighbourhood violence significantly predicted negative attitudes towards immigrants in both the full sample and the group without foreign exposure but not in the sample with foreign exposure. Higher levels of education, especially post‐secondary education, were found to be strong predictors of more favourable attitudes towards immigrants across all samples. Notable regional variations were observed, with the western, southern, and northern areas generally exhibiting more negative attitudes. The nation's current economic state negatively influenced attitudes in the full and no‐foreign‐exposure groups, whereas individual financial circumstances had a positive impact. Border control consistently emerged as a negative predictor across the samples, whereas immigration enforcement demonstrated a positive relationship in certain models. These findings offer crucial insights into the multifaceted elements that shape the public opinion of immigrants in African nations and have substantial theoretical and practical implications. This study contributes to the broader literature on public attitudes towards immigrants and the contact hypothesis from an African perspective.