It is Who You Know That Counts: Intergroup Contact and Judgments about Race-Based Exclusion

Intergroup contact and evaluations about race-based exclusion were assessed for majority and minority students in fourth, seventh, and tenth grades (N = 685). Students were presented with scenarios depicting cross-race relations in contexts of dyadic friendship, parental discomfort, and peer group disapproval. Participants reporting higher levels of intergroup contact gave higher ratings of wrongfulness of exclusion and lower frequency estimations of race-based exclusion than did participants reporting lower levels of such contact. Intergroup contact also predicted students' attributions of motives in two out of three scenarios. Findings are discussed in terms of the extant literature on peer relations, moral reasoning, and intergroup contact.

Multicultural attitudes among adolescents

In this study predictors of multiculturalism at the individual and classroom level are tested in a multilevel model. Previous studies attempting to find predictors of multiculturalism focused only on the individual level, possibly risking an attribution error. Multiculturalism is presented in this study as a notion stressing equal opportunities and minimizing discrimination as well as the conviction that the access to other cultures enriches ones own life. Using a sample of 448 adolescents from junior vocational education it was found that more ethnic diversity at the classroom level is positively related to adolescents’ support for multiculturalism. As such, this study supports the intergroup contact theory.

Explaining Not-in-My-Backyard Responses to Different Social Groups

To examine why people are reluctant to engage in intergroup contact, the present study asked members of a nationwide online panel ( N = 555) to imagine that they would get individuals of a particular social group as next-door neighbors. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of five different social groups hypothesized to differ in emotion-arousing potential: elderly people, people with mild or severe intellectual disability, economic refugees, and young offenders. It was found that differences in acceptance between these groups could be well explained by emotions aroused while anticipating contact yet less well by differences in previous contact with these groups. Furthermore, emotions appeared to be uniquely related to preferred interpersonal relationships. It is concluded that research on how to reduce prejudice through intergroup contact should be complemented with a better understanding of why people are reluctant to engage in such contact in the first place.

Effects of Intergroup Dialogue: Public School Teachers and Sexual Orientation Prejudice

Prejudice and hate crimes against lesbians and gay men are prevalent throughout the United States. Prejudice in public school settings is particularly problematic for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) students and LGB parents. Efforts to reduce prejudice for LGB groups have met with limited success. Creating safer and more inclusive school environments is essential. An experimental mixed methods field design tested outcomes of an intergroup dialogue intervention on public school teacher attitudes, feelings, and behaviors toward LGB students and parents. Quantitative results indicate dialogue participation resulted in statistically significant positive changes in attitudes, feelings, and behaviors. Qualitative data analysis confirmed positive changes as a result of dialogue participation.

Public attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities: a cross-cultural study

This study investigated attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities among the general Hong Kong Chinese population and compared these to a White British sample, using the Community Living Attitudes Scale-Mental Retardation form (CLAS-MR; D. Henry, C. Keys, F. Balcazar, & D. Jopp, 1996 ). As predicted, attitudes among the Hong Kong Chinese public (n = 149) were less favorable than the British sample (n = 135). The former were less opposed to the exclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, less likely to view them as similar to themselves and more in favor of sheltering such individuals. Of all demographic variables examined, ethnicity was the strongest predictor of attitudes, although it only accounted for a small part of the variance in attitudes. The results are discussed in terms of policy implementation and additional research.

Examining the relationship between genetic counselors' attitudes toward deaf people and the genetic counseling session

Given the medical and cultural perspectives on deafness it is important to determine if genetic counselors' attitudes toward deaf people can affect counseling sessions for deafness genes. One hundred fifty-eight genetic counselors recruited through the National Society of Genetic Counselors Listserv completed an online survey assessing attitudes toward deaf people and scenario-specific comfort levels discussing and offering genetic testing for deafness. Respondents with deaf/Deaf friends or who work in prenatal or pediatric settings had more positive attitudes toward deaf people than those without deaf/Deaf friends or those working in 'other' settings. More positive attitudes toward deaf people correlated with higher comfort level talking about genetic testing for the two scenarios involving culturally Deaf clients; and correlated with higher comfort level offering genetic testing to culturally Deaf clients wishing to have a deaf child. Attitudes and comfort level were not correlated in the scenarios involving hearing or non-culturally deaf clients. These results suggest that genetic counselors' attitudes could affect information provision and the decision making process of culturally Deaf clients. Cultural sensitivity workshops in genetic counseling training programs that incorporate personal interactions with culturally Deaf individuals are recommended. Additional suggestions for fostering personal interactions are provided.

The irony of harmony: intergroup contact can produce false expectations for equality

Positive intergroup contact has been a guiding framework for research on reducing intergroup tension and for interventions aimed at that goal. We propose that beyond improving attitudes toward the out-group, positive contact affects disadvantaged-group members' perceptions of intergroup inequality in ways that can undermine their support for social change toward equality. In Study 1, participants were assigned to either high- or low-power experimental groups and then brought together to discuss either commonalities between the groups or intergroup differences. Commonality-focused contact, relative to difference-focused contact, produced heightened expectations for fair (i.e., egalitarian) out-group behavior among members of disadvantaged groups. These expectations, however, proved unrealistic when compared against the actions of members of the advantaged groups. Participants in Study 2 were Israeli Arabs (a disadvantaged minority) who reported the amount of positive contact they experienced with Jews. More positive intergroup contact was associated with increased perceptions of Jews as fair, which in turn predicted decreased support for social change. Implications for social change are considered.

Intergroup contact and beliefs about homosexuality in adolescence

This study examines the relationship between intergroup contact and adolescents' attitudes regarding homosexuality and the treatment of lesbian and gay (LG) peers. Fourteen- through 18-year-olds (n = 1,069, 59.7% females) completed self-report attitude and judgment questionnaires about the acceptability of homosexuality, levels of comfort around LG peers, and the acceptability of excluding or teasing an LG peer. The results suggest that having an LG friend is related to more positive attitudes toward homosexuals/homosexuality and less tolerance toward the unfair treatment of LG peers. The findings lend further support to intergroup contact theory and provide evidence that the intimacy of contact is related to prejudice reduction, and offer general support that age is related to prejudicial attitudes, but less so to prejudicial behaviors.

Intergroup Trust in Northern Ireland

Although prominent political agendas have placed a great deal of importance on building trust in postconflict areas, there has been a lack of empirical research on its role in areas of intergroup conflict. The authors conducted two studies to examine the relationship between trust and intergroup behavioral tendencies—and the potential for intergroup contact to build trust in Northern Ireland. Study 1 showed that outgroup trust mediates the impact of intergroup contact on behavioral tendencies toward the outgroup. Study 2 revealed the importance of trusting the outgroup over simply liking the outgroup; establishing outgroup trust is crucial, as trust is a stronger predictor of behavioral tendencies toward the outgroup than positive attitudes are. Results also demonstrated two mechanisms for increasing outgroup trust—through both direct and extended intergroup contact. These studies further our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying the formation of intergroup trust and behavior in areas of conflict.

Do Adolescents' Perceptions of Parental Racial Attitudes Relate to Their Intergroup Contact and Cross-Race Relationships?

A developmental intergroup framework was used to investigate adolescents' perceptions of parents' messages about cross-race relationships, including friendship and dating, and to relate these attitudes to adolescents' self-reported levels of intergroup contact. Participants ( N = 347) were ninth- and twelfth-grade male and female students from the United States, of varying ethnicity. Findings indicated that intergroup contact was related to the likelihood that participants engaged in cross-race relationships. Perceptions of parent racial attitudes were related to the degree of intimacy participants experienced in these relationships. In addition, adolescents reported that parents evaluated the types of cross-race relationships differently, and their messages were significantly related to adolescents' decisions regarding cross-race friendships and dating.

Impact of a homonegativity awareness workshop on attitudes toward homosexuality

The current study evaluated the effects of a homonegativity awareness workshop on attitudes toward homosexuality and examined individual difference variables associated with attitude change. Participants included 71 female and 43 male students (approximate mean age = 23). Compared to a control group of introductory psychology students, participants were less homonegative and erotophobic (F(1, 359) = 62.47 and 15.92, ps < .001) after the workshop. Implications for contact with gay and lesbian persons through structured intervention programs on attitudes toward homosexuality are discussed in terms of both the practice and theory of reducing prejudice and discrimination.

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 10 Years On: Development, Impact and Future Directions

The development of this Journal, Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, is reviewed. Throughout its first 10 years, the Journal has been supported by a strong editorial board. It has sustained a significant profile in social psychology in the area of both intergroup and small group processes. Its wider impact includes connection to related disciplines such as organizational behavior and neuroscience, focused special issues, small conferences related to the theme of the Journal and the expansion of group and intergroup research through learned societies. The editors thank authors, editorial board members, editorial assistants, reviewers and readers for their support.

Prospects for Group Processes and Intergroup Relations Research: A Review of 70 Years' Progress

Three archival analyses are presented substantially extending empirical reviews of the progress of group-related research. First, an analysis of social psychological research from 1935 to 2007 (cf. Abrams & Hogg, 1998) showed that group-related research has a steadily increasing proportion of titles in the principal journals and currently accounts for over a sixth of all the research in our list of social psychological journals. Second, analysis of the most cited papers from a set of principal social psychology journals from 1998 to 2007 showed that a third of high-impact articles in social psychology focus on groups. Third, analysis of the content of two major specialist journals in the field, Group Processes & Intergroup Relations and Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, showed that together these journals cover a broad range of group-related research, and that the only keyword common to both journals was social identity. These findings demonstrate the health and major contributions of research into group processes and intergroup relations to social psychology as a whole.

Interracial Roommate Relationships

This study investigated how automatically activated racial attitudes are affected by relatively long-term interracial relationships. A natural field experiment was conducted in a college dormitory system. Participants were White freshmen who had been randomly assigned to either a White or an African American roommate. Students participated in two sessions during the first 2 and last 2 weeks of their first quarter on campus. During these sessions, they answered questions about their satisfaction and involvement with their roommates and completed an inventory of intergroup anxiety and an implicit measure of racial attitudes. Participants in interracial rooms reported less satisfaction and less involvement with their roommates than did participants in same-race rooms. However, automatically activated racial attitudes and intergroup anxiety improved over time among students in interracial rooms, but not among students in same-race rooms. Thus, the results suggest that interracial roommate relationships, although generally less satisfying and involving than same-race roommate relationships, do produce benefits.

From American city to Japanese village: a cross-cultural investigation of implicit race attitudes

This study examined the development of implicit race attitudes in American and Japanese children and adults. Implicit ingroup bias was present early in both populations, and remained stable at each age tested (age 6, 10, and adult). Similarity in magnitude and developmental course across these 2 populations suggests that implicit intergroup bias is an early-emerging and fundamental aspect of human social cognition. However, implicit race attitudes toward favored outgroups are more positive in older than in younger participants, indicating that "cultural prestige" enjoyed by a group moderates implicit bias as greater knowledge of group status is acquired. These results demonstrate (a) the ready presence, (b) early cultural invariance, and (c) subsequent cultural moderation of implicit attitudes toward own and other groups.

Minority group members' theories of intergroup contact: a case study of British Muslims' conceptualizations of 'Islamophobia' and social change

Much research in intergroup relations concerns the potential for interventions (e.g. intergroup contact) to reduce majorities' discrimination against minorities. In this paper we focus on how minority group members construe such interventions, especially as they affect their abilities to act in terms of their collective identity to realize social change. In addressing this issue, we focus on a minority's beliefs and theories concerning the intergroup dynamics lying behind their marginalization. Our data are qualitative and concern British Muslims' analyses of the dynamics of Islamophobia. Specifically, we explore two theorizations of Muslims' marginalization. Both share a concern with improving Muslims' collective position in Britain. However, they construe the dynamics to Islamophobia in very different ways, and this shapes their approach to intergroup contact and dialogue. Our analysis is informed by, and seeks to complement, social psychological theorizing on social change and intergroup contact.

On the Micro-Ecology of Racial Division: A Neglected Dimension of Segregation

This article provides a general background to this special focus section of the journal on ‘racial interaction and isolation in everyday life’. It reviews both the geographic literature on segregation and the psychological literature on the contact hypothesis, and calls for more research on how, when and why racial isolation manifests at a micro-ecological level; that is, the level at which individuals actually encounter one another in situations of bodily co-presence. Some conceptual and methodological implications of this extension of the segregation literature are described. The social psychological significance of the racial organisation of such ordinary activities as eating in cafeterias, relaxing on beaches and occupying public seating are also explored. The focus of the argument is that everyday boundary processes may maintain the salience of racial categories, embody racial attitudes and regulate the possibility of intimate contact.

Inter-Group Interactions and Coping: Similar Processes. A Similar Base?

This paper provides a brief review of the literature on inter-group relations and coping. It aims to try and bring together arguments for treating inter-group behaviours as coping activities. Differences and similarities between the two corpuses are considered. Some evidence for our proposal is also presented in terms of (a) search for similarity, (b) social comparison (and whether or not it is upward or downward comparison), and (c) links between emotions and inter-group relations. The concluding comments leave the matter open to further discussion and evidence but raise the question of the role of emotions and coping with those emotions in group-to-group positive and negative relations. We also raise the possibility that conflict management and resolution could operate as interventions based on cognitive-behavioural practices.

Beyond the Optimal Contact Strategy: A Reality Check for the Contact Hypothesis

The contact hypothesis proposes that interaction between members of different groups reduces intergroup prejudice if--and only if--certain optimal conditions are present. For over 50 years, research using this framework has explored the boundary conditions for ideal contact and has guided interventions to promote desegregation. Although supporting the contact hypothesis in principle, the authors critique some research practices that have come to dominate the field: (a) the prioritizing of the study of interactions occurring under rarefied conditions, (b) the reformulation of lay understandings of contact in terms of a generic typology of ideal dimensions, and (c) the use of shifts in personal prejudice as the primary measure of outcome. The authors argue that these practices have limited the contact hypothesis both as an explanation of the intergroup dynamics of desegregation and as a framework for promoting social psychological change. In so arguing, the authors look toward a complementary program of research on contact and desegregation.