I love you too much to keep social distance: Closeness in relationships and (dis)engagement in preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic

: Although we are witnessing a new phase in the management of COVID-19, understanding what predicts adherence to preventive behaviors still remains crucial. In this study we focus on interpersonal relationships by specifically investigating whether engagement in preventive behaviors when in the presence of others may be a function of the type of relationship (in terms of closeness) one has with others. Because close others are often perceived similar to the self compared to strangers, we put forward that close relationships may inadvertently decrease COVID-19 risk perceptions which may ultimately decrease compliance with recommended behaviors when in their presence. To test this hypothesis, 747 Italian respondents were invited to answer one out of four versions of a questionnaire differing on the target (i.e., friends vs. parents vs. grandparents vs. strangers), including questions regarding COVID-19 risk perceptions and intentions to engage in preventive behaviors. Mediation analysis showed that close relationships (i.e., with friends, parents, and grandparents) compared to nonclose relationships (i.e., with strangers) predicted lower intentions to engage in preventive behaviors via lower risk perceptions. Altogether, these results shed light on the role played by closeness in indirectly shaping individuals' dis(engagement) in preventive behaviors and contribute to better understand possible unconscious biases which may undermine our safety during the COVID-19 pandemic

The role of the perceived engagement of the facilitator in a vicarious contact intervention : A school-based field experiment in three countries

Indirect forms of intergroup contact have been shown to reduce prejudice. However, little is known about the factors that can contribute to implementing these methods as interventions in real-life settings. In this study, we examined whether the students' perception of the facilitator's engagement in carrying out a school-based vicarious contact intervention affects the effectiveness of the intervention among adolescents in Finland (N = 360), Italy (N = 113), and Slovakia (N = 216). As a result, the participants who perceived the facilitator as highly engaged held more positive intergroup attitudes after the intervention than those perceiving the facilitator less engaged. The results are discussed in relation to social and developmental psychological research on normative influences in adolescence and intergroup contact literature, in which normative support from authorities is considered to contribute to the extent to which contact reduces prejudice. By stressing the role of the facilitator, the results contribute both theoretically and practically to the understanding of the successful implementation of prejudice-reduction programs. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.Peer reviewe

Reducing prejudice in the society at large: a review of the secondary transfer effect and directions for future research

The secondary transfer effect (STE) constitutes the generalization of the effects of intergroup contact from the outgroup one has contact with to uninvolved outgroups. In this article, we provide a review of the research on the STE. After presenting evidence on the robustness of the phenomenon, we discuss relevant mediating processes and outline a model that distinguishes them in three categories: mediators referring to the outgroup, mediators referring to the ingroup, and mediators referring to the self. We then present moderators of the STE, and recent evidence of the STE from indirect contact (extended, vicarious, and imagined contact) and from negative contact. By relying on our distinction in three sets of mediators, we suggest directions for future research, largely pointing to the importance of integrating the STE with research on generalized prejudice and of exploring contact as an agent of cognitive liberalization

Mobilizing or sedative effects? A narrative review of the association between intergroup contact and collective action among advantaged and disadvantaged groups

Academic Abstract In this narrative review, we examined 134 studies of the relationship between intergroup contact and collective action benefiting disadvantaged groups. We aimed to identify whether, when, and why contact has mobilizing effects (promoting collective action) or sedative effects (inhibiting collective action). For both moderators and mediators, factors associated with the intergroup situation (compared with those associated with the out-group or the in-group) emerged as the most important. Group status had important effects. For members of socially advantaged groups (examined in 98 studies, 100 samples), contact had a general mobilizing effect, which was stronger when contact increased awareness of experiences of injustice among members of disadvantaged groups. For members of disadvantaged groups (examined in 49 studies, 58 samples), contact had mixed effects. Contact that increased awareness of injustice mobilized collection action; contact that made the legitimacy of group hierarchy or threat of retaliation more salient produced sedative effects. Public Abstract We present a review of existing studies that have investigated the relationship between intergroup contact and collective action aimed at promoting equity for disadvantaged groups. We further consider the influence of contact that is positive or negative and face-to-face or indirect (e.g., through mass or social media), and we distinguish between collective action that involves socially acceptable behaviors or is destructive and violent. We identified 134 studies, considering both advantaged (100 samples) and disadvantaged groups (58 samples). We found that intergroup contact impacts collective action differently depending on group status. Contact generally leads advantaged groups to mobilize in favor of disadvantaged groups. However, contact has variable effects on members of disadvantaged groups: It sometimes promotes their collective action in support of their own group; in other cases, it leads them to be less likely to engage in such action. We examine when and why contact can have these different effects

Truth and lies in your eyes: Pupil dilation of White participants in truthful and deceptive responses to White and Black partners

In the present study, we examined the pupillary response of White participants who were asked to tell the truth or lie to White or Black partners. Research on cues to deception has assumed that lying is more cognitively demanding that truth telling. In line with this assumption, previous studies have shown that lying is associated with greater pupil dilation, a behavioral cue that typically manifests itself under conditions of stress or cognitive effort. In accordance with these results, we predicted greater pupil dilation when lying than when telling the truth. Furthermore, pupil dilation was expected to be greater when responding to White than Black partners. Finally, we hypothesized that pupil dilation would be greater when lying to White than Black partners. Participants were instructed to answer a set of questions, half truthfully and half deceptively. They were led to believe that White vs. Black partners (one male and one female) would ask the questions via computer connection. Indeed, we used feminine and masculine synthetic voices. Pupil dilation was assessed with a remote eye-tracking system. Results provided support for the first two hypotheses. However, the predicted interaction between race of partners and truth status of message (lying vs. telling the truth) was nonsignificant. Our findings highlight the importance of considering race in the study of truthful and deceptive communications

Reducing prejudice toward Syrian refugee children: a vicarious contact intervention among Turkish elementary school children

We conducted an experimental intervention to test the effectiveness of vicarious contact in the relationship between Turkish and Syrian elementary school children; the participants were Turkish children. We used a mixed-methods approach, investigating effects by using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Participants in the experimental condition were asked to read stories on positive contact between Turkish and Syrian children over the course of six weekly sessions. The results revealed that vicarious contact, compared to a control condition where participants did not engage in any activity, led to greater intentions to help outgroup members. Importantly, effects only emerged among children who reported higher initial negative outgroup attitudes. Results from qualitative data revealed that vicarious contact produced richer, more positive, and complex representations of the relationships and friendships between groups. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings

Once upon a time…: Using fairy tales as a form of vicarious contact to prevent stigma‐based bullying among schoolchildren

We conducted a vicarious contact intervention with the aim of promoting bystanders' intentions to react to stigma-based bullying among schoolchildren. Participants were Italian primary schoolchildren (N = 117 first to third graders); the outgroup was represented by foreign children. Vicarious contact was operationalized with story reading, creating fairy tales on stigma-based bullying where minority characters were bullied by majority characters. Once a week for 3 weeks, participants were read fairy tales in small groups by an experimenter and engaged in reinforcing activities. Results revealed that the intervention increased intergroup empathy (but not intergroup perspective-taking) and anti-bullying peer norms and fostered contact intentions. The intervention also had indirect effects via intergroup empathy on helping and contact intentions and on bystanders' reactions to stigma based-bullying. We discuss theoretical and practical implications, also in terms of the relevance of the present results for school policy. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement

Following the best of us to help them: group member prototypicality and collective action

While considering the role of group-level factors as predictors of collective action, research has overlooked the role of group prototypes in determining willingness to engage in collective action. To begin to investigate this area, we conducted two correlational studies (Ns = 141 and 98) in high schools examining the association between prototypical ingroup members’ desire to engage in collective action and participants’ collective action on behalf of a disadvantaged group (immigrants). Results showed a positive association between these two variables. We also investigated boundaries of this effect, finding that the association emerged when participants lacked personal experiences with the disadvantaged group (cross-group friendships; Study 1) or identified more with their ingroup, an effect also found when including a behavioral measure of collective action (Study 2). Intentions to follow the prototypical ingroup member emerged as the mediator (Study 2). It is worth noting that our methodology allowed us to assess prototypicality in a naturalistic context by calculating a metacontrast ratio for each group member, in line with self-categorization theory’s conceptualization of prototypicality. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications, with reference to the role of prototypicality as a means of social influence and to developing social norms in the context of collective action.While considering the role of group-level factors as predictors of collective action, research has overlooked the role of group prototypes in determining willingness to engage in collective action. To begin to investigate this area, we conducted two correlational studies (Ns = 141 and 98) in high schools examining the association between prototypical ingroup members’ desire to engage in collective action and participants’ collective action on behalf of a disadvantaged group (immigrants). Results showed a positive association between these two variables. We also investigated boundaries of this effect, finding that the association emerged when participants lacked personal experiences with the disadvantaged group (cross-group friendships; Study 1) or identified more with their ingroup, an effect also found when including a behavioral measure of collective action (Study 2). Intentions to follow the prototypical ingroup member emerged as the mediator (Study 2). It is worth noting that our methodology allowed us to assess prototypicality in a naturalistic context by calculating a metacontrast ratio for each group member, in line with self-categorization theory’s conceptualization of prototypicality. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications, with reference to the role of prototypicality as a means of social influence and to developing social norms in the context of collective action

Comparing story reading and video watching as two distinct forms of vicarious contact: An experimental intervention among elementary school children

Research has shown that vicarious contact, that is observing an interaction between ingroup and outgroup members, can improve intergroup relations. Although vicarious contact has been operationalized in different ways, mainly via story reading or video watching, an experimental comparison of these different strategies is still missing. We conducted a school intervention with the aim of comparing the two most used forms of vicarious contact, namely story reading and video watching. Elementary schoolchildren without disabilities (N = 292) were assigned to one of three different conditions: reading a story; watching a video; control. In the two vicarious contact conditions, participants read or watched the story of a child with disability becoming friends with children without disabilities; in the control condition, participants only completed the dependent measures. Results revealed that, in general, both vicarious contact conditions were equally effective in improving outgroup attitudes and behavioural intentions. In addition, they operated with the same strength through the same underlying processes (IOS, ingroup norms). We discuss theoretical and practical implications in the context of vicarious contact as a prejudice-reduction intervention

Incontro con gli insegnanti dell’Istituto Comprensivo Marconi di Casalmaggiore (Cremona) ai fini di discutere interventi volti alla prevenzione del bullismo (12 febbraio 2021)

Incontro con gli insegnanti dell’Istituto Comprensivo Marconi di Casalmaggiore (Cremona) ai fini di discutere interventi volti alla prevenzione del bullism