Imagining Intergroup Contact Can Improve Intergroup Attitudes

Journal article | Zeitschriftenartikel

We investigated whether simply imagining contact with outgroup members can improve intergroup attitudes. In Experiment 1, young participants who imagined talking to an elderly person subsequently showed lower levels of intergroup bias than participants who imagined an outdoor scene. In Experiment 2, young participants who imagined talking to an elderly person subsequently showed lower levels of intergroup bias than participants who simply thought about elderly people, ruling out a priming explanation for our findings. In Experiment 3, heterosexual men who imagined talking to a homosexual man subsequently evaluated homosexual men more positively, perceived there to be greater variability among them, and experienced less intergroup anxiety compared to a control group. The effect of imagined contact on outgroup evaluations was mediated by reduced intergroup anxiety. These findings suggest that imagining intergroup contact could represent a viable alternative for reducing prejudice where actual contact between groups is impractical.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Umfang: Seite(n): 427-441
• Sprache: Englisch
• Anmerkungen: Status: Postprint; begutachtet (peer reviewed)

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 10(4)

Klassifikation und Themen

• Thema: intergroup contact; reducing prejudice;

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Turner, Rhiannon N. ; Crisp, Richard J. ; Lambert, Emily
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wann): 2007

Weitere Informationen

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430207081533
• URN: urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-228358
• Rechteinformation: GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Bibliothek Köln
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 21.06.2024, 16:26 MESZ