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.

Object Details

• Extent: Seite(n): 427-441
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Status: Postprint; begutachtet (peer reviewed)

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 10(4)

Classification and Topics

• Subject: intergroup contact; reducing prejudice;

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Turner, Rhiannon N. ; Crisp, Richard J. ; Lambert, Emily
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (when): 2007

Further information

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430207081533
• URN: urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-228358
• Rights: GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Bibliothek Köln
• Last update: 21.06.2024, 4:26 PM CEST