Out‐group trust, intergroup anxiety, and out‐group attitude as mediators of the effect of imagined intergroup contact on intergroup behavioral tendencies

Abstract

We investigated whether imagining contact with an out‐group member would change behavioral tendencies toward the out‐group. In Experiment 1, British high school students who imagined talking to an asylum seeker reported a stronger tendency to approach asylum seekers than did participants in a control condition. Path analysis revealed this relationship was mediated by out‐group trust and, marginally, by out‐group attitude. In Experiment 2, straight undergraduates who imagined an interaction with a gay individual reported a stronger tendency to approach, and a weaker tendency to avoid, gay people. Path analyses showed that these relationships were mediated by out‐group trust, out‐group attitude, and less intergroup anxiety. These findings highlight the potential practical importance of imagined contact and important mediators of its effects.

Imagined contact in high conflict settings: The role of ethnic group identification and the perspective of minority group members

“…One of the prominent reasons why ethnic minority groups experience intergroup anxiety and show negative outgroup attitudes is that they have negative expectations from the part of the majority group members (e.g., Saguy et al, 2009). Previous research has shown that awareness and concern of being the target of prejudice leads to the negative evaluation of outgroup members (e.g., Shelton, 2003;Pinel, 1999 Turner et al 2013) have only concentrated on contact that is initiated by the outgroup member, which can indicate that the other group member is willing to engage in contact. Therefore, by investigating the perception of the outgroup's attitudes, we extended previous research, drawing attention to how the contact partner is evaluated during the scenario.…”

“…Hence, if direct positive intergroup contact is difficult to occur naturally, such a positive contact may be mentally simulated. Therefore, the basic idea behind imagined contact research has been providing diverse positive intergroup outcomes such as improved explicit and implicit attitudes (Turner & Crisp, 2010;Vezzali, Capozza, Giovannini, & Stathi, 2012), positive behavioral intentions towards the outgroup (Husnu & Crisp, 2010a), projection of positive traits to the outgroup (Stathi & Crisp, 2008), outgroup trust (Turner, West, & Christie, 2013), and reduced prejudice and intergroup anxiety (Kuchenbrandt, Eyssel, & Seidel, 2013) by simply asking participants to imagine positive contact with an outgroup member.…”

“…We examined the effects of imagined contact on previously studied intergroup outcomes including outgroup attitudes, perceived group threat, and intergroup anxiety (Bagci et al, 2017;Turner et al, 2013).…”

“…Particularly, imagined intergroup contact has been shown to be a practical and effective intervention strategy to improve attitudes and behaviors toward various disadvantaged groups in the society, including the elderly, immigrants, schizophrenics, and homosexuals (e.g., Abrams et al, 2008;Turner, West, & Christie, 2013), providing many of the previously identified benefits of direct contact (e.g., Turner & Crisp, 2010;Vezzali, Capozza, Giovannini, & Stathi, 2012). Imagined contact has been suggested to be an advantageous strategy to improve positive outgroup attitudes especially in settings characterized by high levels of intergroup conflict, yet few studies to our knowledge have examined imagined contact effects within such settings (Husnu & Crisp, 2010a and in particular investigated its effects among minority status groups (but see Stathi & Crisp, 2008).…”

The Psychological Benefits and Costs of Positive and Negative Intergroup Contact

“…A large body of research has demonstrated that positive contact between members of different social groups fosters intergroup liking, intergroup trust, and willingness to form meaningful cross-group friendships (Christ et al, 2010;Page-Gould, MendozaDenton, & Tropp, 2008;Tam, Hewstone, Kenworthy, & Cairns, 2009;Turner, West, & Christie, 2013;Wagner, Tropp, Finchilescu, & Tredoux, 2008). In addition, positive contact reduces social distance and prejudice 1 toward members of the opposing group (Barlow, Louis & Hewstone, 2009;Barlow, Louis, & Terry, 2010;Paolini, Hewstone, Cairns, 2007;Paolini, Hewstone, Cairns, & Voci, 2004;.…”