When Does Imagined Contact Reduce Prejudice?

Abstract

Abstract. Imagined contact has been argued to reduce prejudice. Although extant research supports this argument, replication attempts have been unsuccessful. To resolve conflicting evidence from previous studies, this study examined the effect of imagined contact on explicit and implicit prejudice against Kurds and Syrians in Turkey. Using data from 335 Turkish undergraduate students, the moderating role of ethnic and national identification in the imagined contact effect was tested. Results indicated that imagined contact did not reduce prejudice, and in-group identification did not have a moderating effect, even after controlling for actual contact. These findings call for a theoretical refinement to the imagined contact hypothesis and emphasize the need for further research to advance our understanding of when imagined contact works.

Examining Complex Intergroup Relations

“…However, perceived realism of the scenarios functioned as an important covariate and warrants greater attention, especially when considering the ecological validity of the findings. A further study, however, did not replicate our imagined contact findings in relation to Turks' attitudes toward Kurds and Syrians; Firat and Ataca (2020) demonstrated that a standard imagined contact scenario did not improve explicit or implicit attitudes towards either group. These inconsistencies can be explained by a variety of mechanisms, such as differences in terms of manipulation instructions and settings involved in the scenarios, and the ethnic composition of the setting (East or West of Turkey).…”

“…For example, contact with Armenians, another conflicted outgroup for Turks, is reported to be less frequent than contact with Kurds (Bağcı & Çelebi, 2017). Also, unlike Turkish-Kurdish relations, the relations between Turkish natives and Syrian refugees involve low levels of intergroup contact, and low intergroup conflict (Firat & Ataca, 2020).…”

Questioning the potential of tourism‐related imagined contact in improving interethnic relations in Türkiye

“…In neutral or tourism environments, we found no significant differences between friendship potential and standard IIC, or between standard IIC and no IIC. Some research demonstrates that standard imagined contact is ineffective when compared to no IIC situations (e.g., Firat & Ataca, 2020; Lai et al, 2014). Because Türkiye has several ethnic communities (Andrews, 1992), the majority of members are likely to have frequent interethnic contacts in their daily lives.…”

How Self-Disclosure in Online Postings Affects Female Readers’ Stigmatisation Towards Mothers with a Disability

“…Which, in line with Allport's (1954) original considerations, leads to reduced stigmatisation towards the portrayed minority group (mothers with a disability). However, these effects deserve further investigation, since the impact of non-real contacts on attitude changes is currently questioned by some scholars (Firat & Ataca, 2020).…”