Ambivalent Effects of Positive Contact Between Women and Men on Collective Actions for Women’s Rights

Abstract

Positive intergroup contact, under some conditions, can undermine the interest of members of both socially disadvantaged and advantaged groups to act for equality. However, little is known about whether similar effects appear in a unique form of intergroup relations, gender relations. In two correlational studies and two experiments, we investigated the relationships among quality of contact, perceived discrimination, fusion with the feminist movement, and willingness to engage in collective action for women’s rights. For women (Study 1a), positive contact with men was associated with less perceived discrimination, less fusion, and less collective action. For men (Study 1b), the relationships were in the opposite direction. Studies 2a and 2b revealed that recalling experiences of gender discrimination nullified the effects of contact for both women and men as compared to a control condition. Thus, when discrimination is not explicitly recognized, positive contact might have sedative effects on women, but mobilizing effects on men.

Supporting men or male privilege? Women's progressive and reactionary collective action for men

“…Collective action research for other groups in the context of gender has primarily focused on men's intentions to engage in action for women. These studies confirm some of the SIMCA predictions by showing that men are more likely to support action advancing gender equality when they see women as the disadvantaged group (e.g., Vázquez et al., 2021), perceive gender inequality as pervasive (Iyer & Ryan, 2009), and share the sense of common cause between men and women (Subašić et al., 2018). Interestingly, some recent work in this area acknowledges that not all action for women is necessarily progressive.…”

The irony of (romantic) harmony: Heterosexual romantic relationships can drive women’s justification of the gender hierarchy

“…This mediator is rooted in the joint household element that is a common feature of romantic relationships and has little to do with general forms of contact. Thus, the current work diverges from that of Vázquez et al (2020) in the specific focus on romantic contact and in the proposed underlining psychological mechanism.…”

“…Recent work lends support for this idea. Vázquez et al (2020) showed that women who report having more positive contact with men, had more positive attitudes towards men (in general) and were less motivated to engage in collective action in support of women’s rights. This research, however, did not distinguish between general contact experiences that women have with men in multiple occasions (e.g., in one’s work, in one’s neighborhood, in one’s varied social circles, in one’s extended family) and contact that is part of a romantic relationship.…”

Together to Welcome, Together to Exclude

“…Although emerging literature has been increasingly showing that intergroup contact can mobilize advantaged social groups towards collective actions supporting the disadvantaged (Hässler, Uluğ, et al, 2020), only a few studies identified the mechanisms responsible for the mobilizing effect of intergroup contact (see Di Bernardo et al, 2021; Graf & Sczesny, 2019; Kotzur et al, 2019; Reimer et al, 2017; Vazquez et al, 2021). Thus, the literature lacks a nuanced and detailed understanding of the processes triggered by intergroup contact leading the advantaged to act collectively in favor of the disadvantaged.…”