A large-scale test of the link between intergroup contact and support for social change

Allyship, authenticity and agency: The Triple A Model of Social Justice Mentoring

This conceptual review explores the full potential of mentoring for diversity initiatives. Using a positive relationships lens, I describe how focusing on average relationships obscures the benefits of high-quality mentoring and how traditional views of mentoring as hierarchical, one-way relationships limit our understanding of its role in advancing social justice. Addressing these limitations, I extend relational mentoring and diversified mentoring theories to introduce the Triple A Model of Social Justice Mentoring. This model holds that the effects of high-quality mentoring extend beyond the relationship to influence social justice outcomes. Both members can learn about diversity and experience relational dynamics that foster allyship, agentic empowerment and authentic identities. Implications for formal mentoring, diverse friendships, mentoring episodes and high-quality connections are discussed.

Mobilizing or Sedative Effects? A Narrative Review of the Association Between Intergroup Contact and Collective Action Among Advantaged and Disadvantaged Groups

ACADEMIC ABSTRACT

In this narrative review, we examined 134 studies of the relationship between intergroup contact and collective action benefiting disadvantaged groups. We aimed to identify whether, when, and why contact has mobilizing effects (promoting collective action) or sedative effects (inhibiting collective action). For both moderators and mediators, factors associated with the intergroup situation (compared with those associated with the out-group or the in-group) emerged as the most important. Group status had important effects. For members of socially advantaged groups (examined in 98 studies, 100 samples), contact had a general mobilizing effect, which was stronger when contact increased awareness of experiences of injustice among members of disadvantaged groups. For members of disadvantaged groups (examined in 49 studies, 58 samples), contact had mixed effects. Contact that increased awareness of injustice mobilized collection action; contact that made the legitimacy of group hierarchy or threat of retaliation more salient produced sedative effects.

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

We present a review of existing studies that have investigated the relationship between intergroup contact and collective action aimed at promoting equity for disadvantaged groups. We further consider the influence of contact that is positive or negative and face-to-face or indirect (e.g., through mass or social media), and we distinguish between collective action that involves socially acceptable behaviors or is destructive and violent. We identified 134 studies, considering both advantaged (100 samples) and disadvantaged groups (58 samples). We found that intergroup contact impacts collective action differently depending on group status. Contact generally leads advantaged groups to mobilize in favor of disadvantaged groups. However, contact has variable effects on members of disadvantaged groups: It sometimes promotes their collective action in support of their own group; in other cases, it leads them to be less likely to engage in such action. We examine when and why contact can have these different effects.

The Colonial History of Systemic Racism: Insights for Psychological Science

The psychological study of systemic racism can benefit from the converging insights of "Black Marxism" and development economics, which illustrate how modern systemic racism is rooted in the political and economic institutions established during the historical period of European colonization. This article explores how these insights can be used to study systemic racism and challenge scientific racism in psychology by rethinking traditional research paradigms to incorporate the histories of race, class, and capitalism. Antiracism strategies that make use of these histories are also discussed, which include disrupting the psychological processes that sustain racist systems.

Invariable distribution of co-evolutionary complex adaptive systems with agent's behavior and local topological configuration

In this study, we developed a dynamical Multi-Local-Worlds (MLW) complex adaptive system with co-evolution of agent's behavior and local topological configuration to predict whether agents' behavior would converge to a certain invariable distribution and derive the conditions that should be satisfied by the invariable distribution of the optimal strategies in a dynamical system structure. To this end, a Markov process controlled by agent's behavior and local graphic topology configuration was constructed to describe the dynamic case's interaction property. After analysis, the invariable distribution of the system was obtained using the stochastic process method. Then, three kinds of agent's behavior (smart, normal, and irrational) coupled with corresponding behaviors, were introduced as an example to prove that their strategies converge to a certain invariable distribution. The results showed that an agent selected his/her behavior according to the evolution of random complex networks driven by preferential attachment and a volatility mechanism with its payment, which made the complex adaptive system evolve. We conclude that the corresponding invariable distribution was determined by agent's behavior, the system's topology configuration, the agent's behavior noise, and the system population. The invariable distribution with agent's behavior noise tending to zero differed from that with the population tending to infinity. The universal conclusion, corresponding to the properties of both dynamical MLW complex adaptive system and cooperative/non-cooperative game that are much closer to the common property of actual economic and management events that have not been analyzed before, is instrumental in substantiating managers' decision-making in the development of traffic systems, urban models, industrial clusters, technology innovation centers, and other applications.

Listening to bridge societal divides

The U.S. is plagued by a variety of societal divides across political orientation, race, and gender, among others. Listening has the potential to be a key element in spanning these divides. Moreover, the benefits of listening for mitigating social division has become a culturally popular idea and practice. Recent evidence suggests that listening can bridge divides in at least two ways: by improving outgroup sentiment and by granting outgroup members greater status and respect. When reviewing this literature, we pay particular attention to mechanisms and to boundary conditions, as well as to the possibility that listening can backfire. We also review a variety of current interventions designed to encourage and improve listening at all levels of the culture cycle. The combination of recent evidence and the growing popular belief in the significance of listening heralds a bright future for research on the many ways that listening can diffuse stereotypes and improve attitudes underlying intergroup division.

Human mobility networks reveal increased segregation in large cities

A long-standing expectation is that large, dense and cosmopolitan areas support socioeconomic mixing and exposure among diverse individuals1-6. Assessing this hypothesis has been difficult because previous measures of socioeconomic mixing have relied on static residential housing data rather than real-life exposures among people at work, in places of leisure and in home neighbourhoods7,8. Here we develop a measure of exposure segregation that captures the socioeconomic diversity of these everyday encounters. Using mobile phone mobility data to represent 1.6 billion real-world exposures among 9.6 million people in the United States, we measure exposure segregation across 382 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and 2,829 counties. We find that exposure segregation is 67% higher in the ten largest MSAs than in small MSAs with fewer than 100,000 residents. This means that, contrary to expectations, residents of large cosmopolitan areas have less exposure to a socioeconomically diverse range of individuals. Second, we find that the increased socioeconomic segregation in large cities arises because they offer a greater choice of differentiated spaces targeted to specific socioeconomic groups. Third, we find that this segregation-increasing effect is countered when a city's hubs (such as shopping centres) are positioned to bridge diverse neighbourhoods and therefore attract people of all socioeconomic statuses. Our findings challenge a long-standing conjecture in human geography and highlight how urban design can both prevent and facilitate encounters among diverse individuals.

High-Quality Contact With Fellow Majority Group Students Is Associated With Better Academic Performance of Minority Group Students

We examined the association between intergroup contact and academic performance at university among minority students in a context with a segregated pre-university school system. Study 1 tested whether participation in a group dynamics course, which involves intimate interpersonal contact between Israeli Arab (n = 125) and Jewish students, was associated with better grade point average (GPA). As expected, Arab students who participated in the course had a higher GPA than those who did not, even when controlling for pre-university achievements. The corresponding difference among Jews was substantially smaller. Study 2 (N = 90), a longitudinal study, revealed that the quality of contact with Jewish students at university was associated with Arab students' subsequent higher GPA, even when controlling for pre-university contact, proxies of academic achievements, and perceptions of intergroup relations. The quality of contact with Jewish students was also associated with Arab students' sense of academic belonging. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Growing up amid conflict: Implications of the Developmental Peacebuilding Model

Worldwide, 420 million children are affected by conflict and over half of all children experience violence every year. Thus, youth are unarguably affected by war and settings of persisting societal violence. Despite often being conceptualized as either powerless victims or violent perpetrators, recent advances in research and international policy recognize young people as key change agents in transforming adverse settings into positive environments. Framed by the Developmental Peacebuilding Model, this paper focuses on predictors, outcomes and intervention points within the family for youth peacebuilding. Recent advances of family-based interventions in diverse, non-WEIRD samples will be highlighted. Rooted in existing knowledge, we conclude with concrete suggestions on how to use secondary data to investigate youth peacebuilding across the globe.

Beyond Screen Time: The Different Longitudinal Relations between Adolescents' Smartphone Use Content and Their Mental Health

Purpose: Previous studies focusing on the relationship between adolescents' screen time and mental health have uncovered contradictory results. By focusing on smartphone use content (SUC), this study uses specification curve analysis to explore the different effects of SUCs on mental health-based on longitudinal data. Methods: A total of 2552 adolescents were surveyed in the first (July 2020) and second year (April 2021). A total of 2049 eligible participants (average age = 14.39 ± 2.27, female = 1062) are included in the analysis. Participants reported 20 types of content used by them during smartphone use and their mental health (depression, anxiety, and somatization). Specification curve analysis was used to examine the longitudinal relationship between SUCs and their mental health. Results: Smartphone use for listening to music (median β = 0.18, p < 0.001, NSRPD = 25/27, p < 0.05), chatting online (median β = 0.15, p < 0.001, NSRPD = 24/27, p < 0.05), watching TV (median β = 0.14, p < 0.001, NSRPD = 24/27, p < 0.05), and playing games (median β = 0.09, p < 0.001, NSRPD = 19/27, p < 0.05) produce high to medium negative effects on subsequent mental health. Only using smartphones for online courses exerts no effect on their subsequent mental health (median β = 0.01, p > 0.05, NSRPD = 0/27, p > 0.05). The left 15 types of smartphone content showed unstable effects on future mental health. Depending on the types of content used, these effects ranged from high, medium, and small to none. The relatively descending order of effect on mental health is listening to music, chatting online, watching TV, playing games, and types of content (e.g., browsing social media, making payments, reading online novels) with high but unstable effects, types of content with medium (e.g., browsing news and posting/sharing) but unstable effects, types of content (e.g., using the camera, obtaining life information, and making calls) with small but unstable effects, such as finishing homework and taking online courses. Conclusions: This study enlightens researchers and policymakers to update their understanding of adolescents' technology use, especially to adopt a differentiated attitude towards different media use content. As nutritionists often do, a "nutritionally balanced" digital diet for young people should be recommended to the public, rather than just suggesting limits on the amount of time they can spend using digital media.

Cross-group friendship and collective action in community solidarity initiatives with displaced people and resident/nationals

Introduction: In Ireland, people seeking asylum (displaced people) receive accommodation in a system called “Direct Provision” (DP) while they wait for their applications for protection to be processed. The living conditions of DP have been described as illegal and inhumane by national and international human rights groups, and the system exacerbates the social exclusion of displaced people. Community responses to DP by displaced people and resident/nationals of Ireland include the creation of informal groups called community solidarity initiatives (CSI), through which cross-group friendships are forged by participation in shared cultural activities. We hypothesized that, compared to non-CSI participants, participants of CSI would report more cross-group friendships, and that more cross-group friendships would predict stronger collective action intentions to support the campaign to end DP, especially among resident/nationals.

Methods: We recruited residents/nationals and displaced persons with and without CSI experience to complete a self-report questionnaire (n = 199), measuring cross-group friendship, collective action intentions, and intergroup attitudes. Data were collected between July 2020 and March 2021, using a combination of online and paper surveys. We conducted ANOVA and conditional process analyses on the data to test our hypotheses.

Results: As predicted, CSI participants reported more contact with cross-group friends and stronger collective action intentions than non-participators. Conditional process analysis indicated that CSI participation facilitated resident/nationals’ political solidarity with displaced people through cross-group friendship.

Discussion: Findings identify the role of group membership in the relationship between contact and collective action for migrant justice, illustrating the potential of CSI to bolster intergroup solidarity and social cohesion through shared activities and cross-group friendship. As such, findings make an important contribution to the literature on intergroup contact, solidarity, and social cohesion, and will be relevant for community practitioners, civil society organisations, NGOs, and policy makers.

Enhancing or reducing interethnic hierarchies? Teacher diversity approaches and ethnic majority and minority students' ethnic attitudes and discrimination experiences

Diversity approaches in school may affect students' interethnic relations but are often only assessed through students' perceptions. We related teacher-reported diversity approaches (i.e., assimilationism, multiculturalism, color-evasion, and intervening with discrimination) to ethnic majority and minority students' ethnic attitudes as well as to their experiences or perceptions of ethnic discrimination. We also explored students' perceptions of teacher approaches as hypothetical mediators of teacher effects on interethnic relations. We coupled survey data from 547 teachers (M_age = 39.02 years, 70% female) in 64 schools in Belgium with large-scale longitudinal survey data from their students, including 1287 Belgian majority students (M_age = 15.52, 51% female) and 696 Turkish- or Moroccan-origin minority students (M_age = 15.92, 58% female) enrolled in the same schools (Phalet et al., 2018). Longitudinal multilevel models revealed that over time, teacher-reported assimilationism predicted (even) more positive attitudes towards Belgian majority members, and multiculturalism predicted less highly positive attitudes towards Belgian majority members among Belgian majority students. Teacher-reported intervening with discrimination predicted more perceived discrimination of ethnic minority students over time among Belgian majority students. We did not find significant longitudinal effects of teachers' diversity approaches with Turkish- or Moroccan-origin minority students' ethnic attitudes, nor with their discrimination experiences or perceptions. We conclude that teachers' multiculturalism and anti-discrimination approaches reduced interethnic bias and raised awareness of discrimination among ethnic majority students. However, different perceptions by teachers and students suggest the need for schools to better communicate inclusive diversity approaches.

Social movements and collective behavior: an integration of meta-analysis and systematic review of social psychology studies

Background

The impact of social movements (SMs) and collective behavior (CB) supports the relevance of approaching this phenomenon from social psychology. Several systematic reviews (10) and meta-analyses (6) have been carried out in the 21st century, but there is a lack of integration.

Aim

This study seeks to review the patterns of CB and corroborate the psychosocial factors that explain participation in CB and SMs, as well as the long-term psychological effects of participating in them.

Method

A systematic search was carried out in the databases Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, Willey Online Library, EBSCO, and JSTOR for articles dated between 1969 and 2022. We searched for meta-analyses and systematic reviews that empirically evaluated social movements and collective behavior. Of the 494 initial records, after scanning and eligibility phases, 16 meta-analyses and systematic reviews were analyzed in the present work.

Results

The evidence reviewed shows that participation in collective gatherings and CB are common. A cross-cultural survey suggests that collective gatherings are mostly of a leisure type, to a lesser extent religious and sporting, and to an even lesser extent, demonstrations and large religious rites. World Value surveys found that one to three persons out of 10 participate in protests or CB related to SMs and four out of 10 movements achieved some kind of success. Studies challenged that CBs were characterized by unanimity of beliefs, identification and behavior, generalized excitement, as well as mass panic and riot after catastrophes. Only two out of 10 CB are violent. Meta-analysis and systematic reviews confirm that participation in CB and SMs was associated with (a) intergroup conflict and realistic threat (r = 0.30); (b) positive attitudes, expectations, or agreement with goals or collective motive (r = 0.44); (c) cognitive fraternal relative deprivation (r = 0.25); (d) collective efficacy (r = 0.36); (e) collective identity (r = 0.34); (f) emotions and affective relative deprivation (r = 0.35); (g) moral conviction and threat to moral (r = 0.29); and (h) disagreement with system justification belief (r = -0.26). Participation in successful CB and SMs provokes positive changes in emotions, social identity and social relationships, values and beliefs, and empowerment, as well as negative effects such as depression, stress, burnout, and disempowerment related to the failures of SMs.

Conclusion

Studies confirm the importance of explanatory factors for SMs, with data from various cultural regions. There is a lack of systematic studies of CB as well as meta-analyses and more culturally diverse studies of the effects of participation in them.

Longitudinal effects of direct and extended intergroup contact in multi-ethnic communities in Croatia

The purpose of this study was to examine the reciprocal longitudinal associations between different measures of direct and extended intergroup contact and various intergroup outcomes among majority and minority adolescents from four intergroup contexts in the Republic of Croatia. The research was carried out in two waves on a sample of 1,150 elementary and high school students, members of Croatian majority, and Serbian, Hungarian, Czech, and Italian minority. Cross-lagged path analysis revealed that direct contacts predict less social distance and more prosocial behavior, while extended contacts predict lower ingroup bias over time. However, we found even more effects in the reversed temporal direction. Lower initial bias and social distance, as well as greater prosocial behavior predicted more direct and extended contacts over time. Furthermore, none of the examined longitudinal associations differed between majority and minority members or across the four intergroup contexts.

Dynamic, Yet Stable: Separating Within- and Between-Person Components of Collective Action in Support of a Disadvantaged Outgroup and its Antecedents

Despite an increasing interest in the drivers of intergroup solidarity, the within-person longitudinal relationships between advantaged group members’ engagement for disadvantaged groups and its postulated antecedents remain scarcely tested. In the context of the refugee crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we conducted a three-wave longitudinal survey ( NT1 = 804, NT2 = 702, and NT3 = 624) assessing Poles’ (the advantaged group) willingness to act for Ukrainians (the disadvantaged group), together with three hypothesized predictors—moral convictions, intergroup contact, and politicized identity. Employing a random intercept cross-lagged panel model that separates between- from within-person variance, we found that within-person changes in moral convictions and friendship contact directly predicted subsequent action intentions. Contrary to past theorizing, politicized identity emerged as consequence rather than an antecedent of collective action. Superficial intergroup contact indirectly predicted engagement intentions by facilitating cross-group friendship. We discuss the implications of our findings for current models of collective action.

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

Even though gender inequality is evident across life domains, women often justify the gender hierarchy. We examined whether the very closeness that heterosexual women share with their male romantic partners predicts their justification of gender inequality. We drew on intergroup-related research, showing that positive perceptions that minority groups develop within harmonious intergroup interactions, generalize to affect their views of group-based inequality. We expected that to the extent that women experience their romantic relationships positively, they will be more accepting of gender inequality within their homes, and these perceptions will generalize to predict justification of macro-level gender inequality. Five correlational and two experimental studies supported this prediction. The more women rated (or were primed with) their relationship as positive, the more they justified the gender social system. This was mediated by women’s perception of their housework division as fair, and was less pronounced among feminists. Implications regarding social change are discussed.

Positive contact with working-class people reduces personal contribution to inequality

The current research investigates the effect of a type of intergroup contact that has rarely been studied to date, class-based contact, on one’s personal contribution to inequality. We conducted two studies with middle and upper class individuals. We first longitudinally examined whether positive contact with working-class people reduces contribution to inequality (i.e., participants stating that they themselves contribute to maintaining the social hierarchy) whilst controlling for ideological factors. Lower levels of contribution to inequality were present in people with more and better contact, but the change over time was small in the absence of experimental manipulation. An experiment then showed that recall of positive (vs. negative) contact with working-class people reduced participants’ contribution to inequality and increased their willingness to participate in collective action for equality. These results suggest that facilitating spaces where members of different social classes can have positive interactions can contribute to reducing inequality.

Together to Welcome, Together to Exclude

Abstract. This preregistered study examined whether positive and negative intergroup contact with migrants relates to collective action supporting and opposing migrants as well as to interpersonal exclusion toward them via the key processes identified in the Social Identity Model of Collective Action. Structural equation models conducted on cross-sectional data from 506 Italian and English participants showed that positive (negative) contact related to higher (lower) collective inclusion and lower (higher) collective and interpersonal exclusion of migrants via group anger, identification, and efficacy. Considering positive and negative contact, collective action pro and against migrants and interpersonal behaviors simultaneously, this study provided a nuanced picture of the antecedents and processes underlying the advantaged group members’ behaviors toward migrants.

Applying the Dynamic Dual Pathway Model of Approach Coping to Collective Action Among Advantaged Group Allies and Disadvantaged Group Members

We apply the dynamic dual pathway model of approach coping to understanding the predictors of future collective action among a sample of advantaged group allies and disadvantaged group members who were attending a protest. We propose that problem-focused approach coping (i.e., group efficacy beliefs) would be a stronger predictor of future collective action among disadvantaged compared to advantaged group members, and emotion-focused approach coping (i.e., group-based anger) would be a stronger predictor of future collective action among advantaged compared to disadvantaged group members. Data was collected from LGBTIQ+ and heterosexual people (N = 189) protesting as part of the 2019 Christopher Street Day Parade in Cologne, Germany. We found that increased group efficacy predicted intentions to engage in future collective action for the rights of sexual minorities among LGBTIQ+ but not heterosexual participants. Increased group-based anger was a predictor of future collective action intentions regardless of which group the participants belonged to. Our findings extend the dynamic dual pathway model by applying it to a sample of advantaged group allies and disadvantaged group members attending a protest using a multiple perspectives approach.

"You get to understand we are all human beings": Community solidarity initiatives as spaces of recognition, resistance, and change

In Ireland the Direct Provision system segregates and excludes displaced people from the host community, and informal community solidarity initiatives (CSIs) were established nationwide to address this issue. We examined experiences of intergroup contact in CSIs and related contexts to identify how solidarity is produced, and for whom, through photovoice workshops (Study 1: n = 13) with displaced participants of two CSIs, and interviews (Study 2: n = 5) with resident/national stakeholders of four CSIs. In Study 1, we identified three themes: "Orienting to future and collective identities in Direct Provision," "Negotiating intersectional identities in public settings," and "Recognition of valued collective identities in the CSI." In Study 2, we identified two themes: "Negotiating privileged identities and power asymmetries," and "Facilitating change through social connections." CSIs offered temporary respite from the oppression and discrimination displaced people experienced in other contexts and enabled them to resist dehumanizing representations through expression and recognition of valued identities. Connections within and across groups fostered relational solidarity, shifted intergroup norms, and opened opportunities for displaced people to access resources. Accordingly, our findings have implications for public policy, community research, and action to create just and equitable conditions for displaced people in receiving countries.

The social cohesion investment: Communities that invested in integration programmes are showing greater social cohesion in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic

Social cohesion can rise in the aftermath of natural disasters or mass tragedies, but this 'coming together' is often short-lived. The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic witnessed marked increases in kindness and social connection, but as months passed social tensions re-emerged or grew anew. Thus local authorities faced persistent and evolving challenges. A cross-sectional survey (N = 2,924) examined perceptions of social cohesion while Britain was slowly emerging from its first national lockdown in June 2020 in six English local authorities that have prioritised investment in social cohesion over the last two years (including five 'integration areas') compared with three other areas that have not. We expected that social cohesion programmes would better equip people to tackle the various challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found a greater sense of social cohesion in the six local authorities (at the micro, meso and macro levels) than in other areas. This was manifested as higher levels of reported social activism, interpersonal trust and closer personal relationships, greater political trust and more positive attitudes towards immigrants. Findings are consistent with the proposition that investing in social cohesion underpins stronger and more connected and open communities, better able to cope with crisis situations.

Support for Social Change Among Members of Advantaged Groups: The Role of a Dual Identity Representation and Accepting Intergroup Contact

This preregistered research analyzed survey data from ethnic and religious advantaged groups in 12 countries (N = 2,304) to examine the interplay between two determinants of support for social change toward intergroup equality. Drawing on the needs-based model and the common-ingroup identity model, we hypothesized that the experience of accepting intergroup contact and the endorsement of a dual identity representation of intergroup relations would be associated with greater support for equality. Furthermore, integrating the logic of both models, we tested the novel hypothesis that the positive effect of accepting contact on support for equality would be stronger under a high (vs. low) dual identity representation. While the predicted main effects received empirical support, we found no evidence for the expected interaction. These findings suggest that interventions to foster support for social change among advantaged group members can promote accepting contact and a dual identity representation independently of each other.

News media impact on sociopolitical attitudes

In the present project we assessed whether partisan news affects consumers’ views on polarizing issues. In Study 1 nationally representative cross-sectional data (N = 4249) reveals that right-leaning news consumption is associated with more right-leaning attitudes, and left-leaning news consumption is associated with more left-leaning attitudes. Additional three-wave longitudinal data (N = 484) in Study 2 reveals that right-leaning news is positively (and left-leaning news is negatively) associated with right-leaning issue stances three months later, even after controlling for prior issue stances. In a third (supplemental) study (N = 305), random assignment to right-leaning (but not left-leaning) news (vs. control) experimentally fostered more right-leaning stances, regardless of participants’ previously held political ideology. These findings suggest that partisan news, and particularly right-leaning news, can polarize consumers in their sociopolitical positions, sharpen political divides, and shape public policy.

Intergroup Contact and Prejudice Reduction: Prospects and Challenges in Changing Youth Attitudes

Intergroup contact has long been lauded as a key intervention to reduce prejudice and improve intergroup attitudes among youth. In this review, we summarize classic perspectives and new developments in the intergroup contact literature, highlighting both prospects and challenges associated with achieving desired youth outcomes through contact. First, we review literature showing how positive intergroup outcomes can be facilitated through cultivating optimal conditions for contact, as well as by attending to youth’s emotional responses to contact. We then discuss how desired contact outcomes may be inhibited by limited understanding of ways in which contact strategies may affect youth across developmental stages, as well as by limited focus on societal inequalities and intergroup conflict, which require examination of outcomes beyond prejudice reduction. We also review growing bodies of research on indirect contact strategies—such as extended contact, vicarious contact, and online contact—showing many options that can be used to promote positive relations among youth from diverse backgrounds, beyond the contact literature’s traditional focus on face-to-face interaction. We conclude this review by acknowledging how understanding both prospects and challenges associated with implementing contact strategies can enhance our capacity to prepare youth to embrace group differences and build more inclusive societies.

Psicología y Pueblos Indígenas

La pregunta sobre la existencia de características comunes inherentes a la psicología de los pueblos Indígenas de todo el mundo ha sido objeto de mucho debate. Nosotros argumentamos que los pueblos Indígenas comparten la experiencia de la colonización, así como sus consecuencias sociales y psicológicas. Desarrollamos este argumento en cuatro secciones: ( a) La historia global de la colonización y las desigualdades sociales; ( b) aspectos relativos a la identidad y los procesos grupales, incluidas la transmisión intergeneracional de valores compartidos, la conexión con la naturaleza y la promoción del cambio social; ( c) el prejuicio y la discriminación hacia los pueblos Indígenas y el rol que juegan los procesos psicológicos para promover relaciones positivas entre los pueblos Indígenas y no-Indígenas; y ( d) el impacto del trauma histórico y del colonialismo en la cognición, la salud mental y el bienestar de los pueblos Indígenas, así como la base para el desarrollo de intervenciones exitosas que integran los conocimientos Indígenas. Por último, abordamos los desafíos futuros de la investigación sobre estos temas.

Integrating Insights About Human Movement Patterns From Digital Data Into Psychological Science

Understanding people’s movement patterns has many important applications, from analyzing habits and social behaviors, to predicting the spread of disease. Information regarding these movements and their locations is now deeply embedded in digital data generated via smartphones, wearable sensors, and social-media interactions. Research has largely used data-driven modeling to detect patterns in people’s movements, but such approaches are often devoid of psychological theory and fail to capitalize on what movement data can convey about associated thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and behavior. This article outlines trends in current research in this area and discusses how psychologists can better address theoretical and methodological challenges in future work while capitalizing on the opportunities that digital movement data present. We argue that combining approaches from psychology and data science will improve researchers’ and policy makers’ abilities to make predictions about individuals’ or groups’ movement patterns. At the same time, an interdisciplinary research agenda will provide greater capacity to advance psychological theory.

What reduces prejudice in the real world? A meta-analysis of prejudice reduction field experiments

Despite advances to promote acceptance and equity in many countries, prejudice remains a significant social problem. Promoting intergroup harmony requires knowledge about what works to reduce prejudice in community settings. This meta-analysis of field experiments reveals the most effective intervention types and conditions for reducing negative attitudes towards minority groups in real-world settings. Across 69 intervention arms and 24,378 participants, results reveal that prejudice reduction interventions are effective at improving attitudes towards minority groups in real-world settings (d = 0.51, 95% CI [0.33; 0.68]). The prediction interval was -0.90 to 1.92. In this case, the prediction interval was particularly wide because of the high degree of heterogeneity detected in effect size. Subgroup analyses indicate that less commonly explored approaches, such as perceived variability, may have larger effect sizes than contact-based interventions. Still, more research is needed to confirm the effects of these less-researched approaches. Additionally, results show that interventions are more effective for school and college cohorts than for adults, and that the effects of prejudice reduction interventions endure over time.

Outgroup prosocial behaviour among children and adolescents in conflict settings

More than 420 million children live amid political conflict. In such settings, understanding the development of prosocial behaviours, specifically directed at outgroups, can provide opportunities for peacebuilding. Informed by research on intergroup competition and structural inequality, we focus on outgroup prosocial behaviour targeting conflict rivals. Already from a young age, children are politically socialised and show intergroup biases that dampen helping behaviours towards conflict rivals, which continue into adulthood. We review factors that shape youth's interpersonal helping and broader forms of prosociality, such as civic engagement, across group lines. We conceptualise outgroup prosocial behaviour along a continuum, ranging from interpersonal acts to broader structural and cultural constructive change. We conclude with directions for future research.

Lay Beliefs About Who Can Bridge the Black–White Racial Gap During Interracial Exchanges

For group discussions about fraught racial topics between Black and White Americans to be beneficial, conversation participants must view the person who facilitates as effective at communicating both the perspectives of Black and White Americans. We identify a biracial advantage in this domain. In three studies (total N = 710), we tested how a facilitator’s race affects their perceived effectiveness in communicating with both Black and White Americans. Both Black and White participants expected Black and White monoracial facilitators to more effectively engage with racial in-group than racial out-group members. However, they expected biracial facilitators to be equally effective in communicating with both Black and White groups. Both Black and White participants also expected biracial facilitators to use productive learning strategies (perspective taking, showing empathy) more than White facilitators, and either more than or equally to Black facilitators, suggesting one reason why people expect biracial facilitators to perform well in these moments.

System Justification or Social Dominance? A Multilevel Test of the Ideological Motivators of Perceived Discrimination

Although system-justifying beliefs often mitigate perceptions of discrimination, status-based asymmetries in the ideological motivators of perceived discrimination are unknown. Because the content and societal implications of discrimination claims are status-dependant, social dominance orientation (SDO) should motivate perceptions of (reverse) discrimination among members of high-status groups, whereas system justification should motivate the minimization of perceived discrimination among the disadvantaged. We tested these hypotheses using multilevel regressions among a nationwide random sample of New Zealand Europeans (n = 29,169) and ethnic minorities (n = 5,118). As hypothesized, group-based dominance correlated positively with perceived (reverse) discrimination among ethnic-majority group members, whereas system justification correlated negatively with perceived discrimination among the disadvantaged. Furthermore, the proportion of minorities within the region strengthened the victimizing effects of SDO-Dominance, but not SDO-Egalitarianism, among the advantaged. Together, these results reveal status-based asymmetries in the motives underlying perceptions of discrimination and identify a key contextual moderator of this association.

Psychology and Indigenous People

Whether there are common features inherent to the psychology of Indigenous peoples around the globe has been the subject of much debate. We argue that Indigenous peoples share the experience of colonization and its social and psychological consequences. We develop this argument across four sections: (a) the global history of colonization and social inequalities; (b) aspects concerning identity and group processes, including the intergenerational transmission of shared values, the connection with nature, and the promotion of social change; (c) prejudice and discrimination toward Indigenous peoples and the role of psychological processes to improve relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples; and (d) the impact of historical trauma and colonialism on dimensions including cognition, mental health, and the well-being of Indigenous peoples as well as the basis for successful interventions that integrate Indigenous knowledge. Finally, we address future challenges for research on these topics. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 73 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Perceptions of intolerant norms both facilitate and inhibit collective action among sexual minorities

This article presents the results of three studies that examine how the perceived opinions of others are related to sexual minorities’ support for social change toward greater equality. Results of two cross-sectional studies (Study 1: N = 1,220; Study 2: N = 904) reveal that perceived intolerance (i.e., perceived intolerant societal norms) is indirectly related to intentions to engage in collective action in both negative and positive ways: the negative effect was mediated by lower perceptions of perceived efficacy; positive effects were mediated by greater anger (about the legal situation and public opinion) and greater perceived need for a movement. Study 3 (N = 408) replicates this conflicting effect with a delayed outcome measure by showing that perceived intolerant norms were indirectly, both negatively and positively, associated with actual collective action engagement. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our expanded social identity model of collective action.

Can cross-group contact turn advantaged group members into allies? The role of inequality-delegitimizing contact and interpersonal connection

Previous research shows that positive contact with members of disadvantaged groups can have positive, neutral, or negative effects on advantaged group members’ support of actions for social change towards more equality. The present work provides an experimental test of this effect and introduces two moderators which highlight the fundamental role of (a) communication about perception of the illegitimacy of intergroup inequality and (b) interpersonal connection with the contact partner. In two experiments ( N = 88 and N = 192), first-time cross-group contact was initiated between members of two universities that differ on social status. Results revealed that cross-group contact per se did not increase advantaged group members’ solidarity-based action to reduce inequality. However, cross-group contact did increase advantaged group members’ solidarity-based actions when the disadvantaged group partner engaged in inequality-delegitimizing contact by describing the intergroup inequality as illegitimate and when the advantaged group member reported a strong interpersonal connection with the disadvantaged contact partner.

Social Support and Internalizing Psychopathology in Transgender Youth

Although increasing numbers of children have socially transitioned to live in line with their gender identities, little is known about factors associated with their wellbeing. This study examines the associations between parent-reported family, peer, and school support for a youth's gender identity, as well as an objective measure of state-level support, with parent-reported internalizing symptoms in 265 transgender youth (67.2% transgender girls, 32.8% transgender boys), ages 3-15 years (M = 9.41, SD = 2.62). Parents who reported higher levels of family, peer, and school support for their child's gender identity also reported fewer internalizing symptoms; the objective measure of state-level support was not related to internalizing symptoms. Additionally, peer and school support buffered against the association between gender-related victimization and internalizing symptoms, as reported by parents. This work demonstrates that even among transgender youth with families who supported their transitions, parents see better well-being in their children when they also see more support for the child's gender identity from family, peers, and schools.

Minority stress, resilience, and health in Italian and Taiwanese LGB+ people: A cross-cultural comparison

The present study, using a moderated mediational model, explored levels of distal/proximal stressors, rumination, resilience, and health in a group of Italian and Taiwanese LGB+ people. The study also examined the role of internalized sexual stigma (ISS) and rumination as mediators between discrimination and health, and resilience as a moderator of the relationship between discrimination and ISS, rumination, and health, respectively. An online survey was administered to 508 LGB+ participants (270 Italian and 238 Taiwanese) whose age ranged from 18 to 70 years (M = 37.93, SD = 13.53). The moderated mediation model was tested through a series of path analyses stratified by group nationality. Italian participants reported higher discrimination and resilience, but lower ISS, rumination, and health problems compared to their Taiwanese counterparts. The only common path between groups was the direct effect of discrimination on health problems. The mediating role of ISS and rumination in the relationship between discrimination and health, as well as the moderating role of resilience, were partly significant only for the Italian group. Conclusions: The findings suggest that mediators and moderators used to evaluate the effects of minority stress on health may differ between groups; further culturally sensitive research in the field of LGB+ health is needed.

A multilevel analysis of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) rights support across 77 countries: The role of contact and country laws

Although intergroup contact reduces prejudice generally, there are growing calls to examine contextual factors in conjunction with contact. Such an approach benefits from more sophisticated analytic approaches, such as multilevel modelling, that take both the individual (Level-1) and their environment (Level-2) into account. Using this approach, we go beyond attitudes to assess both individual and contextual predictors of support for gay/lesbian and transgender rights. Using a sample of participants across 77 countries, results revealed that personal gay/lesbian contact (Level-1) and living in a country with more gay/lesbian rights (Level-2) predicted greater support for gay/lesbian rights (n = 71,991). Likewise, transgender contact and living in a country with more transgender rights predicted more support for transgender rights (n = 70,056). Cross-level interactions are also presented and discussed. Overall, findings highlight the importance of both individual and contextual factors in predicting support for LGBT communities.

Beyond Allyship: Motivations for Advantaged Group Members to Engage in Action for Disadvantaged Groups

White Americans who participate in the Black Lives Matter movement, men who attended the Women's March, and people from the Global North who work to reduce poverty in the Global South-advantaged group members (sometimes referred to as allies) often engage in action for disadvantaged groups. Tensions can arise, however, over the inclusion of advantaged group members in these movements, which we argue can partly be explained by their motivations to participate. We propose that advantaged group members can be motivated to participate in these movements (a) to improve the status of the disadvantaged group, (b) on the condition that the status of their own group is maintained, (c) to meet their own personal needs, and (d) because this behavior aligns with their moral beliefs. We identify potential antecedents and behavioral outcomes associated with these motivations before describing the theoretical contribution our article makes to the psychological literature.

Negotiating identities and social representations through intergroup contact in a community solidarity initiative

In Ireland, displaced people experience segregation, discrimination, and disempowering regulations within the Direct Provision system. Community solidarity initiatives (CSI) aim to address the segregation and discrimination displaced people face through collaborative contact with residents/nationals of Ireland. However, asymmetric power relations mean that residents/nationals and displaced people are likely to experience intergroup contact differently, which has implications for identity negotiation. We investigated how displaced people and residents/nationals negotiated their identities and oriented to social representations in talk about their experiences of a CSI in the West of Ireland. We interviewed 17 displaced people and residents/nationals and conducted a thematic analysis, informed by Social Identity Approach and Social Representations Theory. Then, we applied a discursive approach to understand how participants constructed social identities and social representations. Our analysis produced two main themes: 'Identity negotiation strategies in talk about intergroup contact' and 'Understanding and orienting to intergroup boundaries'. We found that residents/nationals and displaced people negotiated their identities to maintain positive identification in relation to negative social representations about their groups. Participants also oriented to shared group representations in their talk , which has implications for the development of political solidarity between residents/nationals and displaced people.

Majority group belonging without minority group distancing? Minority experiences of intergroup contact and inequality

As most immigrant-origin minority youth grow up in ethnically diverse social worlds, they develop a sense of belonging to both the national majority and the ethnic minority group. Our study adds to a growing body of research on minority experiences of intergroup contact by (1) including both minority and majority group belonging as outcomes and (2) examining the interplay of majority contact with unequal treatment. We surveyed 1,200 Turkish and Moroccan-Belgian minority youth in 315 classrooms across 65 schools, using multiple measures of intergroup contact, unequal treatment in school, and minority and majority group belonging. Multi-level models showed that minority youth who experienced more intergroup contact, and less unequal treatment, reported more belonging to the majority group. In addition, contact predicted less belonging to the minority group only in the presence of unequal treatment: For minority youth who perceived less unequal treatment, either individually or collectively, intergroup contact was unrelated to minority group belonging. We conclude that majority group contact and belonging need not come at the cost of minority group distancing in the absence of inequality.