Modern avenues for intergroup contact: Using E-contact and intergroup emotions to reduce stereotyping and social distancing against people with schizophrenia

Maunder, Rachel; White, Fiona A.; Verrelli, Stefano

doi:10.1177/1368430218794873

Cited by 56 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Consequently, an intragroup comparison condition may inadvertently inflate the E‐contact effect. Recently, however, Maunder, White, and Verrelli () conducted a study concerning stigma reduction towards people with schizophrenia, which compared intergroup E‐contact with two different controls, namely intragroup E‐contact and a baseline condition. Their findings demonstrated that, compared to the two controls, intergroup E‐contact significantly reduced stigma.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving intergroup relations between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland via E‐contact

White

Turner

Verrelli

et al. 2018

Euro J Social Psych

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Northern Ireland is characterised by extensive segregation between its predominantly Catholic and Protestant communities. With the aim of overcoming this segregation, the current study experimentally evaluated the effectiveness of electronic or E-contact as a novel indirect contact and prejudice-reduction strategy. Here, Catholic and Protestant participants were not required to meet physically but were involved in a collaborative and goal-orientated online interaction with a member of the other community. As predicted, E-contact improved both Catholics' and Protestants' outgroup attitudes via improved contact expectancies and reduced intergroup anxiety. These findings provide support for the contemporary role of online interactions in actively overcoming the physical and psychological barriers that often prevent prejudice reduction in segregated communities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving intergroup relations between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland via E‐contact

White

Turner

Verrelli

et al. 2018

Euro J Social Psych

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“…The original text‐based E‐contact intervention involved real intergroup Internet interactions between Muslim and Catholic students in segregated schools in Australia (White & Abu‐Rayya, 2012; White, Abu‐Rayya, et al., 2015; White et al., 2014). More recently, a new shorter version of E‐contact involving a preprogrammed outgroup member has been developed and tested, and has been found to successfully improve intergroup relations across multiple contexts involving: (i) Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland (White, Turner, et al., 2019); (ii) bias reduction against sexual minority men and women (White, Verrelli, et al., 2019); (iii) stigma reduction against people with schizophrenia (Maunder et al., 2019); and (iv) prejudice reduction against transgender individuals (Boccanfuso et al., in press). Reliance on technologies, such as the Internet, can help reduce psychological barriers (i.e., outgroup anxiety and avoidance), because having to approach the outgroup directly is not necessary (Kauff et al., 2021; O'Donnell et al., 2021; White et al., 2020), and overcome physical barriers of space and time, making contact available globally.…”

Section: Existing and Emerging Forms Of Indirect Contactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond direct contact: The theoretical and societal relevance of indirect contact for improving intergroup relations

White

Borinca

Vezzali

et al. 2020

Journal of Social Issues

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104

114

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Today, physical and psychological barriers can reduce opportunities for the type of direct face-to-face intergroup contact first identified by Gordon Allport. Consequently, social psychological researchers have identified, developed and tested a burgeoning array of different forms of indirect contact, including, extended contact, Electronicor E-contact, imagined contact, vicarious contact and parasocial contact. In addition to providing a critical review of each of these forms, we argue that indirect contact is more than just a simple "replacement" for direct contact, but instead has the potential to improve intergroup relations for both minority and majority members in its own right. Relatedly, we acknowledge that indirect contact occurs within specific normative contexts embodied in legislation, institutions, and media and political contents. In fact, we recognize that indirect contact requires an integrative understanding of the role of intergroup norms and affective processes in order to effectively achieve public policy objectives to optimize effects on prejudice reduction.

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“…While these strategies have been implemented in different countries ( 28 – 30 ) and have led to decreasing stigma ( 31 , 32 ) and promoting positive perceptions of psychiatric patients among students and professionals ( 33 , 34 ), their implementation in virtual learning spaces is recent, particularly for university students ( 35 ). Several authors highlight the advantages of using multimedia resources, for instance audiovisual educational resources with standardized patients ( 36 , 37 ), E-contact with psychiatric patients ( 38 ), and even the implementation of educational videogames ( 39 , 40 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, its implementation in the field of stigma-reduction is new and innovative, and the existing evidence shows that it can reduce stigma toward the transgender population ( 60 ). With regards to the use of E-contact to reduce stigma toward mental disorders, to date, only one experimental study has been conducted, and has demonstrated that E-contact reduces anxiety, rage and stereotypes toward individuals with schizophrenia ( 38 ). In that sense, this confirms the relevance of including E-contact in interventions aimed at reducing stigma toward people with mental disorders, for instance through the use of synchronous videoconferencing ( 61 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlled Study of the Impact of a Virtual Program to Reduce Stigma Among University Students Toward People With Mental Disorders

2021

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Stigma toward mental disorders is one of today's most pressing global issues. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the barriers to social inclusion faced by individuals with mental disorders. Concurrently, stigma reduction interventions, especially those aimed at university students, have been more difficult to implement given social distancing and campus closures. As a result, alternative delivery for programs contributing to stigma reduction is required, such as online implementation. This paper reports the results of a controlled study focused on an online multi-component program on reducing stigma toward mental illness that included project-based learning, clinical simulations with standardized patients and E-Contact with real patients. A total of 40 undergraduate students from the Universidad del Desarrollo in Santiago, Chile, participated in the study. They were randomly divided between an intervention and control group. The intervention group participated in the online multi-component program, while the control group participated in an online educational program on cardiovascular health. We assessed the impact of the program by using the validated Spanish-language versions of the Attribution Questionnaire AQ-27 and the Questionnaire on Student Attitudes toward Schizophrenia with both groups, before and after the intervention. In addition, an ad hoc Likert scale ranging from 0 to 5 was used with the intervention group in order to assess the learning strategies implemented. Following the intervention, the participants belonging to the intervention group displayed significantly lower levels of stereotypes, perception of dangerousness, and global score toward people with schizophrenia (p < 0.001). In addition, participants presented lower levels of dangerousness-fear, avoidance, coercion, lack of solidarity, and global score (p < 0.001). The control group displayed no statistically significant differences in the level of stigma before and after the evaluation, for all of the items assessed. Finally, the overall assessment of each of the components of the program was highly positive. In conclusion, the study shows that online programs can contribute to reducing stigma toward mental disorders. The program assessed in this study had a positive impact on all the dimensions of stigma and all of the components of the program itself were positively evaluated by the participants.

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Modern avenues for intergroup contact: Using E-contact and intergroup emotions to reduce stereotyping and social distancing against people with schizophrenia

Cited by 56 publications

References 34 publications

Improving intergroup relations between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland via E‐contact

Improving intergroup relations between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland via E‐contact

Beyond direct contact: The theoretical and societal relevance of indirect contact for improving intergroup relations

Controlled Study of the Impact of a Virtual Program to Reduce Stigma Among University Students Toward People With Mental Disorders

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