Reducing explicit and implicit prejudice toward disabled colleagues: Effects of contact and membership salience in the workplace

In the present study, membership salience was tested as a moderator of the effects of contact on emotions and explicit and implicit attitudes toward the disabled. Participants were non-disabled employees of firms and cooperative societies; they worked in contact with colleagues with psychiatric problems. Results indicated that quantity and quality of contact improved outgroup evaluations, both within and outside the contact situation. Consistent with intergroup contact theory (Brown & Hewstone, 2005), the positive effects of contact on anxiety and empathy toward disabled colleagues generalized to the whole category of the disabled when group distinctions were salient within the contact setting. Notably, frequent and cooperative contact also reduced implicit prejudice toward the general disabled category. Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed

Direct and imagined contact moderates the effect of need for cognitive closure on attitudes towards women managers

This research investigated the relationship between individual preference for the need for cognitive closure (NCC) and attitudes towards women as managers and the moderating role of direct or imagined contact with women leaders. In two studies (total N = 369) collected in different countries and with different methods (Study 1: Italy, correlational; Study 2: U.S., experimental), it was found that the positive relationship between NCC and negative attitudes towards women as managers was moderated by the quality, but not the quantity of current or past direct contact experiences with women managers. In Study 1, employees with higher scores on NCC had more positive attitudes towards women managers when they had more positive work experience with women managers. In Study 2, those with higher NCC scores had less negative attitudes towards women as managers when they merely imagined (positive) contact with them (vs. a control group). These results advance the literature on the interaction between NCC and positive intergroup contact; theoretical and practical implications of NCC and positive intergroup contact are presented

Extended contact and affective factors: A review and suggestions for future research

Extended intergroup contact has received growing support for its positive effect on intergroup relations. Previous research has focused on cognitive factors associated with extended contact, such as perceived group norms and inclusion of the other in self. In the present review, we examine the affective outcomes of extended contact. In particular, we review research demonstrating that extended contact has powerful effects on various affective measures of intergroup relations, such as intergroup anxiety, empathy, trust, and intergroup threat. We also present evidence that some of these affective factors mediate the relationship between extended contact and outgroup attitudes. Finally, we propose future re-search to extend the literature on the dual route of prejudice-reduction, via affective and cognitive factors, through extended contact

Fading affect bias in intergroup relations: The role of intergroup contact in fading outgroup affect

Negative affect associated with autobiographical events fades faster over time than positive affect. This Fading Affect Bias (FAB) has been established in the individual and interpersonal domains. Two studies tested the FAB in intergroup relations with Muslims (N= 76 White British non-Muslim) and opposite gender (N = 242 women and men) as target outgroups. The results indicated that the FAB exists in an intergroup context, for both ingroup and outgroup memories. Mediation analyses showed that intergroup contact is related to a lower fading of positive affect associated with the outgroup memory, through greater memory strength and a more positive outgroup member evaluation. The findings are important for understanding affect associated with intergroup memories and the buffering effect of positive contact

Outgroup morality perceptions mediate secondary transfer effects from direct and extended contact: Evidence from majority and minority members

The ‘secondary transfer effect’ (STE), defined as contact with a primary outgroup improving attitudes towards a secondary outgroup uninvolved in contact, has mainly been studied with reference to direct contact and considering attitude generalization as the main mediating mechanism. Using a majority (422 Italians) and minority (130 immigrants) adolescent sample from high-schools in Italy, we examined outgroup morality perceptions as a new mediating mechanism, and tested for the first time whether the STE emerges for extended contact. Results revealed that the STE emerged for direct contact among the majority group and for extended contact among the minority group, and it was sequentially mediated by perceptions of morality towards the primary outgroup, and by attitudes towards the primary outgroup and perceptions of morality towards the secondary outgroup. The STE also emerged for direct contact among the minority group, with morality perceptions towards the secondary outgroup and attitudes towards the primary outgroup being parallel mediators. We discuss the theoretical implications of the findings, arguing that it is important to identify the conditions and underlying processes of the STE in order to reduce prejudice in the case of both majority and minority groups

Resilience in children in the aftermath of disasters: a systematic review and a new perspective on individual, interpersonal, group, and intergroup level factors

Disasters can impact upon individuals, families, and communities in multiple ways. Research has mainly focused on risk and protective factors relating to the child (individual level) and the family (interpersonal level), not taking into account the processes at the level of social groups. The present review aims to (a) review psychological research on disasters determined by natural events in childhood, (b) distinguish individual, interpersonal, group, and intergroup levels, (c) emphasize the importance of considering resilience as a key outcome. We reviewed 294 studies (in addition to 28 reviews‐meta‐analyses, and 29 naturalistic interventions), and identified factors at the individual (e.g., demographics, exposure, individual differences), interpersonal (e.g., parent–child relationship, family and school environment), group (e.g., social identity, group membership), and intergroup (relations between different groups) levels. We argue that an integrated model of these factors and their interplay is needed to design interventions to enhance resilience in children and their communities. We extend previous theorizations by providing a wider conceptualization of distress and resilience, and by considering the interplay between factors at different levels. A multidimensional approach to the consequences of disasters in children is crucial to understand their development and well‐being, and to design effective interventions. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement

The role of optimal conditions and intergroup contact in promoting positive intergroup relations in and out of the workplace: A study with ethnic majority and minority workers

A field study was conducted with majority and minority group members to test whether the effects of optimal contact conditions and of intergroup contact generalize across situations, and extend to the support of intergroup equality in terms of agreement with social policies benefitting the minority group. Participants were 163 Italian and 129 immigrant workers in three corporate organizations. Results from structural equation modelling analyses revealed that, for the majority group, positive contact stemming from optimal contact conditions was indirectly associated, via reduction in negative stereotypes, with more positive behavior that generalized across situations. For both majority and minority groups, positive contact stemming from optimal contact conditions was associated with less negative stereotypes, and in turn with greater support for social policies favoring the minority. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, also in relation of the significance of the present results for research investigating the relation between intergroup contact and social change