Improve Intergroup Attitudes Research Articles

Evidence-based educational interventions to reduce intergroup bias among young children in conflict zones

Biases towards conflict out-groups pose significant barriers for conflict resolution. These biases can perpetuate social divisions, hinder positive intergroup relations, and impede long-term peacebuilding efforts. Therefore, intervening early, before biases are fully formed, is necessary. This article reviews existing knowledge and presents a research synthesis of effective educational interventions aimed to improve intergroup attitudes of young children (preschool and elementary school age) living in conflict zones towards the conflict out-group. The literature review includes interventions that have been implemented to address intergroup bias among such children. This review identifies effective strategies in existing literature and highlights areas for further research and development. These interventions provide practical strategies to reduce intergroup bias among children and foster positive intergroup relations; as such, they hold significant implications for educators, practitioners, and policymakers working in conflict zones. However, more longitudinal studies are needed to assess the long-term effects of interventions and their impact on sustained attitude change. Moreover, interventions should be tailored to specific conflict contexts, considering cultural nuances and local dynamics. Overall, the present article may contribute to our understanding of how to effectively intervene and moderate intergroup biases and negative attitudes among children living in conflict contexts before biases become stronger and more fully formed in adulthood.

Looking White But Feeling Asian: The Role of Perceived Membership Permeability and Perceived Discrimination in Multiracial-Monoracial Alliances.

Relatively little is known about the extent to which multiracial people stand in solidarity with their parent groups. Here, we draw from social identity theory to examine predictors of Asian-White multiracial people's solidarity with Asian and White people, Asian monoracial people's meta-perceptions of these solidarity levels, and consequences of these meta-perceptions for intergroup relations. Studies 1a-b show that Asian-White multiracial people stand in solidarity more strongly with Asian people than White people, especially when they perceive high levels of anti-Asian discrimination, and even when they believe they physically look White. Studies 2a-b demonstrate that Asian monoracial people incorrectly believe that physically White-looking Asian-White multiracial people stand in solidarity more strongly with White people, and these pessimistic meta-perceptions are associated with more rejection of multiracial people. Study 3 provides a causal link between meta-perceptions and rejection while providing preliminary evidence that correcting these solidarity meta-perceptions can improve intergroup attitudes.

Social media intergroup expression and White Americans’ attitudes toward ethnic Chinese during COVID-19

ABSTRACT Guided by intergroup contact theory, this survey study investigates how White American adults’ (N = 697, Mage = 44.42, SD = 14.6, age range = 18–67) social media intergroup expression frequency and valence, direct contact quality, and perceptions of institutional bias were associated with behavioral and affective attitudes toward ethnic Chinese during COVID-19. Structural Equation Modeling analyses indicate that social media intergroup expression valence and direct contact quality play a critical role in improving intergroup attitudes toward ethnic Chinese directly, and indirectly through building empathy and/or reducing anxiety. In addition, analyses demonstrate the negative role of social media intergroup expression frequency, which had: (1) a direct negative effect on behavioral attitudes and (2) an indirect negative effect on both attitudinal measures through increased anxiety and decreased empathy. Lastly, perceptions of institutional bias were negatively associated with affective attitudes through increased intergroup anxiety. Overall, findings reveal the dynamic interplay of the intergroup processes between social media intergroup expression, intergroup contact, and perceptions of institutional bias in shaping intergroup anxiety, empathy, and attitudes during COVID-19.

E-contact facilitated by conversational agents reduces interethnic prejudice and anxiety in Afghanistan

Intergroup contact occurring through indirect means such as the internet has the potential to improve intergroup relationships and may be especially beneficial in high conflict situations. Here we conducted a three-timepoint online experiment to ascertain whether the use of a conversational agent in E-contact platforms could mitigate interethnic prejudices and hostility among Afghanistan’s historically segregated and persistently conflictual ethnic groups. 128 Afghans of Pashtun, Tajik, and Hazara backgrounds were assigned to one of four E-contact conditions (control with no conversational agent and three experimental groups that varied in the conversational agent settings). Participants in the experimental conditions contributed more ideas and longer opinions and showed a greater reduction in outgroup prejudice and anxiety than those in the control group. These findings demonstrate that E-contact facilitated by a conversational agent can improve intergroup attitudes even in contexts characterized by a long history of intergroup segregation and conflict.

Contact quality and positive attitudes towards immigrants: The moderation of generalised trust.

In the context of international migration, intergroup contact has been widely recognised as a strategy for enhancing host populations' positive attitudes towards immigrants. However, the moderating factors that influence this association have been relatively understudied. In this research, we propose that generalised trust plays a significant role as a moderator in the relationship between the quality and quantity of intergroup contact and the positive attitudes of Chileans towards Peruvian and Venezuelan immigrants. We hypothesize that both types of contact will be associated with more positive attitudes towards immigrants in hosts with generalised trust (vs. no generalised trust). Using a sample of 916 Chilean participants, we conducted a linear regression analysis to test our hypotheses, and results show us a moderation effect only with contact quality. These findings have theoretical and practical implications, particularly in understanding how the moderation effect of generalised trust can contribute to improving intergroup attitudes.

Intergroup contact in Japan: An exploration of direct, E-contact, and mass-mediated modalities among Japanese and international students

This study explored relationship between intergroup contact and willingness to interact with each other among Japanese and international students in Japan, focusing on three contact modalities: direct, E-contact, and mass-mediated contact, from perspectives of both groups. The research identified unique relationships between contact types and intergroup anxiety and common ingroup identity as mediating variables. Key findings include (1) divergent paths between all three contact modalities with intergroup anxiety and common ingroup identity, (2) a more pronounced link between positive contact and interaction willingness among Japanese students, and (3) the dominance of positive over negative contact in predicting interaction willingness. Exceptions to the latter two findings were also explored. The study’s nuanced insights offer valuable contributions to the field, guiding effective strategies in improving intergroup attitudes among domestic and international students.

Sociopsychological principles for intercultural interventions to reduce intergroup bias in school

ABSTRACT The role of educators includes promoting cultural competence and cultural sensitivity in order to create an inclusive school climate, and for this role, they need multicultural knowledge and skills. This article presents theory-based and evidence-based principles, adopted from social psychology, to reduce intergroup biases and to improve intergroup attitudes. These principles are proposed here for use in intercultural educational intervention programmes with the aim of promoting cultural competence and cultural sensitivity in schools. Awareness of these principles and their implementation in educational programmes can contribute to acquaintance with the ‘other’, heterogeneous perception of groups, identifying similarities between cultures, addressing stereotypes, reducing intergroup biases, and enhancing intergroup attraction. All of these have the capability to contribute to an optimal and inclusive educational climate in schools and in society.

Intraparty and Interparty Political Disagreement as Predictors of Affective Polarization and Willingness to Engage in Interparty Contact: The Moderating Role of Political Difference Management Styles

Interpersonal political discussion is a normatively valued practice in a democracy, shaping polarizing attitudes and influencing future contact intentions in divided political landscapes. Applying social identity, intergroup contact, and conflict management styles theories, in this article, we investigate the associations between political disagreement with in-party and out-party members, affective polarization, and willingness to engage in interparty contact. Additionally, we examine how these associations are contingent upon individuals’ styles for managing political disagreement. Using cross-sectional survey data ( N = 732), we found that better quality of disagreement with out-party members and more frequent disagreement with in-party members are related to improved intergroup attitudes. Furthermore, these relationships vary depending on the competing disagreement management style.

Ironies of proximity: Intergroup threat and contact avoidance on neighbourhood interface areas

AbstractResearch on the dynamics of neighbourhood desegregation and diversity has identified a paradox. On the one hand, such processes may engender positive intergroup contact experiences, improving intergroup attitudes and relations. On the other hand, they may have the opposite effect, exacerbating negative intergroup relations and generating new forms of avoidance and exclusion. The present research explored one aspect of this paradox. Building on a field survey conducted with Indian residents (n = 364) of a suburb of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, we demonstrate how their relative proximity to areas occupied by ‘incoming’ Black African residents has shaped their perceptions of intergroup threat and associated reactions such as contact avoidance, boundary fortification and support for policies resisting desegregation. At the same time, we demonstrate how such effects are moderated by residents' wider experiences of positive interracial contact. In conclusion, we emphasize the need to better integrate psychological work on the contact hypothesis with work in companion disciplines such as urban studies and human geography. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Music and Sports as Catalysts for Intergroup Harmony

Abstract: Mediated intergroup contact positively influences attitudes toward social out-groups; here, we explored whether different intergroup contact activities might influence attitudes via different mechanisms. We investigated whether mediated musical or sports contact improves intergroup attitudes through theoretically derived mediators (interpersonal synchronization, empathy, and humanization). This was accomplished by exposing US respondents to videos featuring Chinese singers or table tennis players. We found support for mediated effects of intergroup musical exposure on prejudice through the mediator humanization. We also examined whether seeing in-group (vs. out-group) members enjoying the out-group performance in the video (a “reaction video”) would improve attitudes via norms-related processes. Sharing the viewing experience with an in-group character enables identification with that in-group character, which facilitates modeling of positive intergroup relations. We found that seeing an in-group member enjoying an out-group performance reduced prejudice via norms, but only when people viewed the sports performance. Results are discussed in terms of the prejudice-reducing potential of exposure to media featuring music and sports.

Perceived respect from the adversary group can improve intergroup attitudes in a context of intractable conflict.

Respect has been found to play a crucial role in human relationships including intergroup relations. Its presence has a significant positive influence in shaping the character of all relationship interactions. In intractable violent conflicts, there is almost no space for gestures of respect between adversarial parties, and the prevailing phenomenon is a mutual disrespect that fuels the conflict. This study examines a novel and challenging intervention that aims to induce in laboratory experiments, for the first time, perceptions of respect from adversary group members in the context of intractable intergroup conflict. In addition, this research examines the effect of perceived respect from the adversary on attitudes and perceptions towards the adversary group and the conflict. In three experimental studies (N=1261) in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we manipulated expressions of respect from the Palestinian adversary group members and presented them to Jewish Israelis. Results revealed that, a group involved in a prolonged violent conflict may perceive respect from its adversary outgroup, and the perceived respect from the adversary in turn predicts improvement in attitudes and perceptions towards the adversary group and the conflict. These findings underline the important role of respect in intergroup conflict and its role in mitigating the conflict.

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

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.

Using fiction to improve intergroup attitudes: Testing indirect contact interventions in a school context

The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of an intervention using indirect intergroup contact for improving intergroup attitudes in schools, in particular anti-Roma prejudice. Vicarious contact—a form of indirect intergroup contact—can be experienced through fictional book characters, who can serve as positive role models in terms of intergroup attitude improvement. A vicarious contact experiment was conducted with sixth grade students (N = 177) from three Slovak elementary schools, using passages from the Harry Potter series. A three-group pretest-posttest design was adopted; experimental condition 1 involved reading passages without subsequent discussion, experimental condition 2 involved reading the same passages followed by a discussion, while the control group was not involved in any activities. There was a significant improvement of intergroup attitudes in experimental condition 2 compared to the control group, while condition 1 did not show any such improvement. The first contribution of the study is in tackling conceptually distinct mediators of the intervention’s effect – perspective taking and narrative transportation. The second contribution is in demonstrating the added value of discussion in interventions focused on prejudice reduction in schools.

Interpersonal bonds with fellow nationals, blind patriotism and preference for Immigrants' acculturation.

Strong interpersonal bonds between group members have been found to either increase intergroup antipathy or improve intergroup attitudes, depending on the intergroup situation. However, the question of whether close ties with fellow group members can contribute positively and negatively to intergroup attitudes at the same time remains unexplored. We explore this question in the context of a national group taking the example of Finns' acculturation attitudes toward immigrants. One adolescent sample (N = 401) and one adult student sample (N = 285) completed surveys assessing these factors. Across both studies, strong interpersonal bonds with fellow nationals showed a negative effect on acculturation attitudes toward immigrants via an increase in blind patriotism. At the same time, interpersonal bonds also had a direct and positive effect on attitudes toward contact with Finns and (among younger respondents only) attitudes toward cultural maintenance. Our results indicate that the strength of interpersonal bonds with fellow nationals has simultaneous and opposing associations with acculturation attitudes via a combination of direct and indirect pathways. Based on these results we argue that groups can be simultaneously both caring and moral communities.

Intergroup Contact and Prejudice Reduction: Prospects and Challenges in Changing Youth Attitudes

Intergroup contact has long been lauded as a key intervention to reduce prejudice and improve intergroup attitudes among youth. In this review, we summarize classic perspectives and new developments in the intergroup contact literature, highlighting both prospects and challenges associated with achieving desired youth outcomes through contact. First, we review literature showing how positive intergroup outcomes can be facilitated through cultivating optimal conditions for contact, as well as by attending to youth’s emotional responses to contact. We then discuss how desired contact outcomes may be inhibited by limited understanding of ways in which contact strategies may affect youth across developmental stages, as well as by limited focus on societal inequalities and intergroup conflict, which require examination of outcomes beyond prejudice reduction. We also review growing bodies of research on indirect contact strategies—such as extended contact, vicarious contact, and online contact—showing many options that can be used to promote positive relations among youth from diverse backgrounds, beyond the contact literature’s traditional focus on face-to-face interaction. We conclude this review by acknowledging how understanding both prospects and challenges associated with implementing contact strategies can enhance our capacity to prepare youth to embrace group differences and build more inclusive societies.

Letters from Russia: impact of imaginary contact, epistolary contact, and narrative on intergroup attitudes of adolescents

Introduction: Prejudices might negatively influence the well-being of people they concern and often lead to discrimination. Hence, it’s important to search for effective ways to improve intergroup attitudes and implement them during education. One of the most effective known methods is intergroup contact. However, as it’s not always possible to implement, it’s important to search for more accessible methods. The article proposes a new form of reducing prejudices, i.e. a letter of contact with fictitious outgroup members. In such interaction, people receive a letter and are asked for a reply. The method is based on two concepts of improving attitudes: imaginary contact and narrative about positive intergroup interaction. Its effectiveness in improving attitudes was experimentally tested and compared to a typical imaginary contact task. Method: Participants were 179 high school students. They were divided into three experimental conditions: replying to a letter from an outgroup member; replying to a similar letter from an ingroup member; imagining interaction with an ingroup member. After the manipulation, participants completed an intergroup attitudes questionnaire. Results: What had an impact on intergroup attitudes was the perceived pleasure of the task, while the type of manipulation had no effects. Conclusions: Results suggest that in manipulations based on imaginary contact or narration, responses are probably influenced not by imaging interaction with an outgroup member, but by the positive character of the task, which probably has an impact on attitudes by priming a good mood. This calls into question the effectiveness of methods of imaginary contact and narrative about the contact. They probably temporarily affect mood but have no influence on prejudice.

Childhood trauma and perceived control in adulthood

Introduction: Prejudices might negatively influence the well-being of people they concern and often lead to discrimination. Hence, it’s important to search for effective ways to improve intergroup attitudes and implement them during education. One of the most effective known methods is intergroup contact. However, as it’s not always possible to implement, it’s important to search for more accessible methods. The article proposes a new form of reducing prejudices, i.e. a letter of contact with fictitious outgroup members. In such interaction, people receive a letter and are asked for a reply. The method is based on two concepts of improving attitudes: imaginary contact and narrative about positive intergroup interaction. Its effectiveness in improving attitudes was experimentally tested and compared to a typical imaginary contact task. Method: Participants were 179 high school students. They were divided into three experimental conditions: replying to a letter from an outgroup member; replying to a similar letter from an ingroup member; imagining interaction with an ingroup member. After the manipulation, participants completed an intergroup attitudes questionnaire. Results: What had an impact on intergroup attitudes was the perceived pleasure of the task, while the type of manipulation had no effects. Conclusions: Results suggest that in manipulations based on imaginary contact or narration, responses are probably influenced not by imaging interaction with an outgroup member, but by the positive character of the task, which probably has an impact on attitudes by priming a good mood. This calls into question the effectiveness of methods of imaginary contact and narrative about the contact. They probably temporarily affect mood but have no influence on prejudice.

Personal narratives to improve attitudes towards stigmatized immigrants: A parallel-serial mediation model

This work addresses the study of factors that increase the persuasive efficacy of testimonial messages aimed at improving intergroup attitudes. The results of two online experiments ( N = 840) on the effect of empathy with, and similarity to, the protagonist in personal stories designed to improve attitudes towards immigrants are presented. In both studies, participants were given instructions to induce a certain exposure condition (empathy vs. an objective or distanced perspective) immediately before reading a narrative whose protagonist was an immigrant with high or low similarity to the audience. The results of mediation analysis show that both empathy and similarity increased identification and narrative transportation, which in turn reduced counterarguing, thus resulting in a more positive attitude towards the outgroup and lower threat perception. The results are discussed in the context of research on narrative persuasion and the design of campaigns to reduce racism and xenophobia.

Positive Intergroup Interdependence, Prejudice, Outgroup Stereotype and Helping Behaviors: The Role of Group-Based Gratitude

The present paper investigates a positive, other-oriented moral emotion: group-based gratitude, in reaction to intergroup positive interdependence or outgroup contributions to ingroup’s goals. Three studies support the notion that group-based gratitude plays a role in improving intergroup attitudes between natives and immigrants in the French context. In Study 1, positive intergroup interdependence was associated with group-based gratitude, which in turn was negatively associated with prejudicial attitudes and behavioral intentions. In the last two studies, highlighting historical outgroup contributions elicited group-based gratitude, which in turn reduced prejudice, increased perceived warmth and reciprocity (i.e., helping behavioral intentions), compared to control condition and positive condition. Links with indebtedness and common ingroup are discussed.

Perspective taking in conflict settings: Can perspective taking smooth tensions between Trump and Clinton supporters in the aftermath of 2016 U.S. presidential election?

AbstractCan perspective taking improve intergroup attitudes in conflict contexts? How does a context of conflict shape people's responses to perspective‐taking tasks and their ultimate effectiveness? The present study addressed these questions by examining the effect of perspective taking (compared with a perspective giving and a control condition) on intergroup attitudes between Trump and Clinton supporters (N = 537) one month after the 2016 presidential election. Perspective taking had positive effects on some intergroup attitudes: It increased warmth toward the outgroup (thermometer ratings), outgroup tolerance, perceived similarities between groups, and marginally increased positive outgroup evaluation. This study also sheds light on the mechanisms that might reduce the effectiveness of perspective taking in conflict settings by assessing the content and the effects of the induced perspectives in response to perspective‐taking task. About half of the induced perspective‐taking narratives involved negative views of the other, which were associated with worse intergroup outcomes. In addition, higher perceived intensity of the conflict between Trump and Clinton supporters and more negative emotions about the election outcome predicted more induced negative perspectives as a response to the perspective‐taking task. In turn, negative perspectives were associated with more negative intergroup attitudes. To sum up, while perspective taking had an overall positive impact on intergroup attitudes in this conflict setting, its impact seems to be contingent upon the content of induced perspective‐taking narratives.