Intergroup contact and social change: Implications of negative and positive contact for collective action in advantaged and disadvantaged groups

Previous research has shown that (1) positive intergroup contact with an advantaged group can discourage collective action among disadvantaged-group members and (2) positive intergroup contact can encourage advantaged-group members to take action on behalf of disadvantaged outgroups. Two studies investigated the effects of negative as well as positive intergroup contact. Study 1 (N = 482) found that negative but not positive contact with heterosexual people was associated with sexual-minority students’ engagement in collective action (via group identification and perceived discrimination). Among heterosexual students, positive and negative contact were associated with, respectively, more and less LGB activism. Study 2 (N = 1,469) found that only negative contact (via perceived discrimination) predicted LGBT students’ collective action intentions longitudinally while only positive contact predicted heterosexual/cisgender students’ LGBT activism. Implications for the relationship between intergroup contact, collective action, and social change are discussed

Why are people of colour at a higher risk of falsely confessing? Answers from the psychology of prejudice?

Almost three in four wrongful conviction cases concern defendants of colour – a statistic which seems to be partly explained by the greater number of false confessions cases in this group. Among them, there are five adolescents who spent many years in prison after falsely confessing to a brutal rape in New York’s Central Park. Why were they and why are other people of colour at a higher risk of falsely confessing? To answer this question, I discuss approaches from the psychology of prejudice and their possible relationship to false confessions. Can stereotypes about Black men as criminals increase the pressure on suspects of colour in police interrogation? Do stereotypes make suspects of colour appear more nervous in interrogation? Do White police officers tend to assume the guilt of suspects of another race? Based on evidence from psychological studies, I evaluate in how far each of these approaches explains the overrepresentation of people of colour in false confession cases

Can intergroup contact foster more continuous, fluid, and inclusive social identities?

This thesis examines whether intergroup contact can foster more continuous, fluid, and inclusive social identities—and, if so, how more continuous, fluid, and inclusive social identities relate to intergroup bias and support for social change. Chapter 1 introduces relevant research on social identification along a single category and across multiple categories, and develops the hypotheses tested throughout this thesis. Chapter 2 gives an overview of the empirical research, and introduces the statistical methods used to analyse findings from that research. Chapter 3 reports research developing and validating a novel measure of social identity continuity and fluidity, and examines whether contact with sexual and gender minorities fosters more continuous and fluid conceptions of sexuality and gender. Studies 1–3 found that intergroup contact was associated with more continuous and fluid social identities, but that more continuous and fluid social identities were not, in turn, associated with less intergroup bias. Chapter 4 reports research testing whether contact with caste or religious outgroups fosters more inclusive social identities in South India. Study 4 found that, as hypothesised, cross-group friendship was associated with more inclusive identities, while more inclusive identities were associated with less intergroup bias. Chapter 5 reports research testing how intergroup contact relates to support for social change in advantaged and disadvantaged groups. Studies 1 and 3 found that for disadvantaged-group members, negative contact, but not positive contact, was associated with more collective action. For advantaged-group members, positive contact predicted more solidarity-based collective action. More continuous and fluid identities did not mediate any of these relationships. Study 4 found neither intergroup contact nor more inclusive identities to be associated with support for or opposition to social change. Chapter 6 summarises and discusses the research presented in this thesis, highlighting its implications for intergroup relations research.</p

Can intergroup contact foster more continuous, fluid, and inclusive social identities?

This thesis examines whether intergroup contact can foster more continuous, fluid, and inclusive social identitiesâand, if so, how more continuous, fluid, and inclusive social identities relate to intergroup bias and support for social change. Chapter 1 introduces relevant research on social identification along a single category and across multiple categories, and develops the hypotheses tested throughout this thesis. Chapter 2 gives an overview of the empirical research, and introduces the statistical methods used to analyse findings from that research. Chapter 3 reports research developing and validating a novel measure of social identity continuity and fluidity, and examines whether contact with sexual and gender minorities fosters more continuous and fluid conceptions of sexuality and gender. Studies 1â3 found that intergroup contact was associated with more continuous and fluid social identities, but that more continuous and fluid social identities were not, in turn, associated with less intergroup bias. Chapter 4 reports research testing whether contact with caste or religious outgroups fosters more inclusive social identities in South India. Study 4 found that, as hypothesised, cross-group friendship was associated with more inclusive identities, while more inclusive identities were associated with less intergroup bias. Chapter 5 reports research testing how intergroup contact relates to support for social change in advantaged and disadvantaged groups. Studies 1 and 3 found that for disadvantaged-group members, negative contact, but not positive contact, was associated with more collective action. For advantaged-group members, positive contact predicted more solidarity-based collective action. More continuous and fluid identities did not mediate any of these relationships. Study 4 found neither intergroup contact nor more inclusive identities to be associated with support for or opposition to social change. Chapter 6 summarises and discusses the research presented in this thesis, highlighting its implications for intergroup relations research.</p

Meta-Analysis of the “Ironic” Effects of Intergroup Contact

Growing evidence suggests that intergroup contact, psychology's most-researched paradigm for reducing prejudice, has the "ironic" effect of reducing support for social change in disadvantaged groups. We conducted a preregistered meta-analytic test of this effect across 98 studies with 140 samples of 213,085 disadvantaged-group members. As predicted, intergroup contact was, on average, associated with less perceived injustice (r = -.07), collective action (r = -.06), and support for reparative policies (r = -.07). However, these associations were small, variable, and consistent with alternative explanations. Across outcomes, 25%-36% of studies found positive associations with intergroup contact. Moderator analyses explained about a third of the between-sample variance, showing that, at least for perceived injustice, associations with intergroup contact were most consistently negative in studies that measured direct, qualitatively positive contact among adults. We also found evidence for an alternative explanation for the apparent "ironic" effects of intergroup contact as, after controlling for the positive association of negative contact with support for social change, positive contact was no longer associated with any of the outcomes. We close by discussing the strengths and limitations of the available evidence and by highlighting open questions about the relationship between intergroup contact and support for social change in disadvantaged groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Building social cohesion through intergroup contact: Evaluation of a large-scale intervention to improve intergroup relations among adolescents

Past research has found intergroup contact to be a promising intervention to reduce prejudice and has identified adolescence as the developmental period during which intergroup contact is most effective. Few studies, however, have tested whether contact-based interventions can be scaled up to improve intergroup relations at a large scale. The present research evaluated whether and when the National Citizen Service, a large-scale contact-based intervention reaching one in six 15- to 17-year-olds in England and Northern Ireland, builds social cohesion among adolescents from different ethnic backgrounds. In a diverse sample of adolescents (N = 2,099; M = 16.37, age range: 15–17 years; 58% female), this study used a pretest–posttest design with a double pretest to assess the intervention’s effectiveness. Controlling for test–retest effects, this study found evidence that the intervention decreased intergroup anxiety and increased outgroup perspective-taking—but not that it affected intergroup attitudes, intergroup trust, or perceptions of relative (dis )advantage. These (small) effects were greater for adolescents who had experienced less positive contact before participating and who talked more about group differences while participating. These findings suggest that the intervention might not immediately improve intergroup relations—but that it has the potential to prepare adolescents, especially those with less positive contact experiences before the intervention, for more positive intergroup interactions in the future