The Extended Contact Hypothesis: A Meta-Analysis on 20 Years of Research

Global Prevalence of Sleep Bruxism and Awake Bruxism in Pediatric and Adult Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background/Objectives: The purpose of this systematic review was to assess the global prevalence of sleep bruxism and awake bruxism in pediatric and adult populations. Methods: This systematic review was conducted by analyzing studies published from 2003 to 2023. The following keyword combination was utilized: prevalence, epidemiology, population, and bruxism. The PubMed database was analyzed, supplemented by manual searches using the Google search. Additionally, the snowballing procedure method was applied. A double assessment of the quality of publications was carried out to preserve the highest possible quality of evidence (e.g., Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist). Analyses were conducted using the R statistical language. Results: The global bruxism (sleep and awake) prevalence is 22.22%. The global sleep bruxism prevalence is 21% and awake prevalence is 23%. The occurrence of sleep bruxism, based on polysomnography, was estimated at 43%. The highest prevalence of sleep bruxism was observed in North America at 31%, followed by South America at 23%, Europe at 21%, and Asia at 19%. The prevalence of awake bruxism was highest in South America at 30%, followed by Asia at 25% and Europe at 18%. Conclusions: One in four individuals may experience awake bruxism. Bruxism is a significant factor among women. It was observed that age is a significant factor for the occurrence of sleep bruxism in women. Among the limitations of the study is the lack of analysis of the prevalence of bruxism in Africa and Australia due to not collecting an adequate sample for analysis. The study was registered in the Open Science Framework (10.17605/OSF.IO/ZE786).

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.

Social dominance orientation, intergroup contact and belief in traditional school culture as predictors for parents' attitudes to school segregation in the Czech Republic

Background

The over-representation of Roma children in segregated schools is well documented as a prevalent form of institutional racism in the Czech Republic. In the paper, we examine the inclination of parents to support school segregation.

Objective

The paper looks at parents' preference for school segregation and explores its association to social dominance orientation, intergroup contacts, belief in traditional schooling and the absence of Roma children in school as proof of the school's good quality. The first hypothesis examines an association between parents' preference to withdraw their children from ethnically diverse schools and social dominance orientation (one's degree of preference for inequality among social groups). The second one tests the belief in traditional schooling as a factor contributing to a preference for ethnically motivated withdrawal. The third one studies the extent to which parents' preference to withdraw their children from ethnically diverse schools is affected by contact with Roma in their everyday life. The final hypothesis tests if parents who view Roma students as an indicator of poor education in a given school are more likely to oppose the presence of Roma students among their children's peers.

Methods

Quantitative data collection was carried out on a sample of 1,803 respondents. The target group were families with at least one child of primary school age (6-14 years). A binary logistic regression analysis was implemented to assess these relationships.

Results

The study confirmed that ethnically motivated school withdrawal is associated with social dominance orientation, belief in traditional school culture and education. On the other hand, the role of inter-group contact in a school environment was not proved. However, the final statistical model was rather weak explaining approximately 9% of variance in segregation endorsement. The model fit improved significantly when an additional variable - absence of Roma as a sign of a good school - was added. Approximately 15% of the variance in segregation endorsement was explained by the modified set of predictors.

Conclusion

The study argues that ethnically motivated school withdrawal is a result of individual attitudes and situational factors. This means that researchers interested in informal school segregation will need to consider both groups of factors.

Thirty Years of Psychological Wisdom Research: What We Know About the Correlates of an Ancient Concept

Psychologists have studied the ancient concept of wisdom for 3 decades. Nevertheless, apparent discrepancies in theories and empirical findings have left the nomological network of the construct unclear. Using multilevel meta-analyses, we summarized wisdom's correlations with age, intelligence, the Big Five personality traits, narcissism, self-esteem, social desirability, and well-being. We furthermore examined whether these correlations were moderated by the general approach to conceptualizing and measuring wisdom (i.e., phenomenological wisdom as indexed by self-report vs. performative wisdom as indexed by performance ratings), by specific wisdom measures, and by variable-specific factors (e.g., age range, type of intelligence measures, and well-being type). Although phenomenological and performative approaches to conceptualizing and measuring wisdom had some unique correlates, both were correlated with openness, hedonic well-being, and eudaimonic well-being, especially the growth aspect of eudaimonic well-being. Differences between phenomenological and performative wisdom are discussed in terms of the differences between typical and maximal performance, self-ratings and observer ratings, and global and state wisdom. This article will help move the scientific study of wisdom forward by elucidating reliable wisdom correlates and by offering concrete suggestions for future empirical research based on the meta-analytic findings.

Can you imagine this? Imagined contact as a strategy to promote positive intergroup relations

In comparison to the extensive body of research on intergroup contact, which encompasses predictors, outcomes, and implications, there has been relatively little attention given to the role of imagined contact with diverse ethno-religious out-groups. This gap particularly exists in understanding the factors that contribute to the effectiveness of imagined contact interventions. This article aims to address this gap by presenting current research on the predictors and consequences of imagined contact. We offer an overview of the circumstances in which imagined contact proves beneficial; while focusing on research that holds relevance for designing interventions and policies promoting contact between culturally and religiously diverse groups and individuals. We also acknowledge the existing limitations within this field of study and propose potential direction for future research.

Moderating Effects of School Ethnic Composition of Acculturative Stress and Academic Outcomes in Latinx Youth

Acculturative stress has demonstrated significant negative relationships with Latinx students' academic outcomes. Framed through interpersonal contact theory, we examined the moderating roles of school ethnic representation (proportion of same-ethnic peers) and school ethnic diversity (proportion of different ethnic groups in student body) in the relationship between acculturative stress and both academic self-efficacy and school belonging. A sample of 190 Latinx youth (14-18 years old) completed measures of acculturative stress and school functioning, and they provided the name and location of their high school to facilitate calculation of school ethnic composition. Both ethnic representation and ethnic diversity moderated relationships between English Competency Pressure (ECP), a specific form of acculturative stress, and academic-self efficacy. School ethnic diversity also interacted with ECP to predict school belonging. Negative relationships between ECP and academic self-efficacy or school belonging only emerged for students in schools with very low ethnic diversity. In contrast, ECP was significantly negatively related to academic self-efficacy only for students in schools with the highest ethnic representation. These findings add complexity to the discussion of how school context matters for Latinx students' academic performance.

Imagined and extended contact experiences and adolescent bystanders' behavioral intentions in homophobic bullying episodes

Bystanders' helping interventions in bias-based bullying are rare, although they have the potential to intervene on behalf of the victim and quickly stop the aggression. Two studies tested, experimentally, the impact of adolescents' imagined (Study 1, N = 113, M_age  = 16.17) and extended contact experiences (Study 2, N = 174, M_age  = 15.79) on assertive bystanders' behavioral intentions in the context of homophobic bullying, an under-researched but highly detrimental behavior that emerges mainly during early adolescence. Potential mediators (empathic concern, social contagion concerns, and masculinity/femininity threat) were also examined. Results showed that female younger participants revealed more behavioral intentions to help victims of homophobic bullying when asked to imagine an interaction with an outgroup member (Study 1). Younger participants revealed less masculinity/femininity threat in the positive extended contact condition, and female participants revealed less empathic concern in the negative extended contact condition (Study 2). Overall, these findings identify specific conditions (e.g., younger females) where indirect contact interventions (i.e., extended and imagined) are likely to have a stronger impact. Age and sex differences were found to illustrate how adolescents vary in their behavioral intentions, empathic concern, and threat; and also highlight the need to further examine age and sex differences regarding responses to homophobic bullying episodes.

Networks in the making: Friendship segregation and ethnic homophily

Recent work focuses on how homophily (tastes for similarity) can lead to network segregation (the lack of intergroup friendships). Yet studies seldom consider whether and how levels of network segregation could also lead to the trend towards homophily over time. Instead, existing cross-sectional studies argue that intergroup exposure exacerbates homophily. By neglecting longitudinal data on changes to friendships and focusing on intergroup exposure rather than initial intergroup friendships, existing studies are likely to present an overly pessimistic view on the benefits of intergroup contact. Using longitudinal data and stochastic actor-oriented models, I study how levels of initial ethnic network segregation between students in Swedish Classrooms with "native" backgrounds and immigrant-origin students are related to subsequent levels of ethnic homophily. Results show that more initial network segregation in classroom friendship networks is linked to more ethnic homophily in network evolution, which suggests that beyond mere exposure, optimal conditions for contact and actual intergroup friendships are crucial for positive intergroup dynamics, and that their benefits can appear longitudinally.

Character Perceptions of Storytellers: Investigating the Mediated Contact Hypothesis and Stories About Living With HIV

Research into mediated contact hypothesis shows that exposure to people sharing their stories of living with a stigmatized condition can decrease negative stereotypes and improve willingness to engage in future interpersonal contact, but results are inconsistent. In this study, we offer novel reasons for why mediated intergroup contact can facilitate positive inter-group outcomes, by focusing on audience members' perceptions of the storyteller's character (i.e., perceptions of attributes or features that make up an individual). Our model was tested (N = 369, U.S. adults) with video-recorded stories from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Let's Stop HIV Together campaign. The results showed that, as predicted, viewers' perceptions of the storyteller's character as more fluid and more multidimensional predicted stronger transportation into the story, which predicted greater perceptions of group variability and more intergroup ease. Implications for character perceptions as mechanisms of contact effects, communication's role in shaping character perceptions, and reducing HIV stigma are discussed.

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.

Child’s presence shapes immigrant women’s experiences of everyday intergroup contact

Research on intergroup contact has considered how the occurrence and experience of contact is affected by ingroup members. Qualitative studies of contact in real-life settings have additionally highlighted how multiple actors can affect the manifestation of contact. This article shows how the presence of one’s child can shape immigrant mothers’ contact experiences in multi-ethnic neighbourhoods. Ten immigrant mothers living in Helsinki, Finland, were interviewed twice over a six-month period about their intergroup interactions in their locale. Using a thematic analysis, we identified three themes depicting immigrant mothers’ experiences of intergroup contacts in their child’s presence: i) feeling visible to others, ii) seeking harmonious contact, and iii) anticipating problems. The results illustrate how a child affords unique opportunities for an immigrant mother to engage in interethnic contact, but also brings distinctive threats. This suggests the need to further consider how different types of intragroup dynamics can shape intergroup contacts.

Promoting positive intergroup attitudes using persona dolls: A vicarious contact intervention program in Israeli kindergartens

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a vicarious contact intervention program for improving knowledge and attitudes of Jewish-Israeli secular and religious children regarding their ingroup and three outgroups: secular/religious Jews, Ethiopian-descendant Jews, and Arabs. One hundred and nine kindergartners participated in a four-week intervention, in which experimenters introduced to them four persona dolls representing the different groups. Accompanied by stories, children were exposed to the dolls’ individual and group characteristics, and to positive encounters between the dolls. A pre- and post-test battery assessed the intervention’s effects on children’s intergroup knowledge and attitudes. Findings revealed an increase in children’s knowledge of the groups, improvements in religious children’s attitudes towards Arabs, and in both secular and religious children’s willingness to sit closer to Ethiopian-descendant children. These findings highlight the potential of indirect contact for reducing intergroup bias in young children living in multicultural and conflict-ridden societies.

The use of virtual reality in studying prejudice and its reduction: A systematic review

This systematic review provides an up-to-date analysis of existing literature about Virtual Reality (VR) and prejudice. How has VR been used in studying intergroup attitudes, bias and prejudice, are VR interventions effective at reducing prejudice, and what methodological advantages and limitations does VR provide compared to traditional methods are the questions we aim to answer. The included studies had to use VR to create an interaction with one or more avatars belonging to an outgroup, and/or embodiment in an outgroup member; furthermore, they had to be quantitative and peer-reviewed. The review of the 64 included studies shows the potential of VR contact to improve intergroup relations. Nevertheless, the results suggest that under certain circumstances VR contact can increase prejudice as well. We discuss these results in relation to the intergroup perspective (i.e., minority or majority) and target minority groups used in the studies. An analysis of potential mediators and moderators is also carried out. We then identify and address the most pressing theoretical and methodological issues concerning VR as a method to reduce prejudice.

Remembrance of contact past: When intergroup contact metacognitions decrease outgroup tolerance

Positive intergroup contact reliably reduces prejudice, yet little is known about the metacognitive processes involved in recalling prior contact experiences and their impact on outgroup tolerance. The present research examined whether contact interventions that rely on the recollection of past contact experiences can be susceptible to ease of retrieval effects, and the potential impact on intergroup attitudes. Specifically, we tested whether manipulating the number of contact memories participants were asked to recall (five vs. one) impacts on outgroup tolerance, and whether this effect is contingent upon participants’ prior contact experiences. Results of two experiments ( N = 220) revealed a moderated mediation effect of contact recollection on outgroup tolerance via perceived ease of retrieval, dependent upon levels of prior contact. Recalling more (five) versus fewer (one) contact memories was perceived as more difficult, and this, in turn, decreased tolerance, specifically for individuals low in prior contact. Countering this negative indirect effect, however, recalling more contact experiences had a positive direct effect. Therefore, greater cognitive effort appears to act as a suppressor of the positive effect of contact recall. Our findings provide insight into meta-cognitive processes involved in recalling autobiographical contact memories, and the resulting impact on intergroup relations.

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.

From Contact to Enact: Reducing Prejudice Toward Physical Disability Using Engagement Strategies

The contact hypothesis has dominated work on prejudice reduction and is often described as one of the most successful theories within social psychology. The hypothesis has nevertheless been criticized for not being applicable in real life situations due to unobtainable conditions for direct contact. Several indirect contact suggestions have been developed to solve this “application challenge.” Here, we suggest a hybrid strategy of both direct and indirect contact. Based on the second-person method developed in social psychology and cognition, we suggest working with an engagement strategy as a hybrid hypothesis. We expand on this suggestion through an engagement-based intervention, where we implement the strategy in a theater performance and investigate the effects on prejudicial attitudes toward people with physical disabilities. Based on the results we reformulate our initial engagement strategy into the Enact (Engagement, Nuancing, and Attitude formation) hypothesis. To deal with the application challenge, this hybrid hypothesis posits two necessary conditions for prejudice reduction. Interventions should: (1) work with engagement to reduce prejudice, and (2) focus on the second-order level of attitudes formation. Here the aim of the prejudice reduction is not attitude correction, but instead the nuancing of attitudes.

Developmental Prevention of Prejudice: Conceptual Issues, Evidence-Based Designing, and Outcome Results

This article reviews conceptual and empirical issues on the developmental prevention of prejudice in childhood and adolescence. Developmental prejudice prevention is defined as interventions that intentionally change and promote intergroup attitudes and behavior by systematically recognizing theories and empirical results on the development of prejudice in young people. After presenting a general conception of designing evidence-based interventions, we will discuss the application of this model in the field of developmental prejudice prevention. This includes the legitimation, a developmental concept of change, and the derivation of intervention content and implementation. Finally, we summarized recent evaluations results by reviewing meta-analytical evidence of programs and discuss important issues of future research and practice.

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.

Proximity with limited humanity: How hosting a tent city impacted college students' perceptions of individuals experiencing homelessness

The current manuscript assessed the impact of a community intervention-hosting a government-sanctioned homeless encampment-on perceptions of individuals experiencing homelessness. College students' perceptions of individuals experiencing homelessness were collected before and after a tent city resided on campus. Perceptions were assessed utilizing a measure of dehumanization that probed the presumed importance of physiological and psychological needs. Data about contact with individuals experiencing homelessness were also collected. Hosting a tent city did not improve community-wide perceptions of individuals experiencing homelessness. For a subset of participants who explicitly mentioned interactions with tent city members, awareness of the importance of physiological needs increased. Assessments of intergroup contact during hosting did not moderate changes in perceptions, though contact prior to hosting did have a modest impact. Specifically, students who had the fewest prior interactions were more likely to show improved perceptions of middle-level need (e.g., love and belonging) importance. There was no evidence to suggest any enhancements in perceptions of high-level needs (e.g., feeling independent and respected). Contact that organically occurs when a community hosts a tent city has limited potential to enhance markers of humanness. Implications for the contact hypothesis and recommendations for future hosting sites are discussed.

COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on social relationships and health

This essay examines key aspects of social relationships that were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses explicitly on relational mechanisms of health and brings together theory and emerging evidence on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to make recommendations for future public health policy and recovery. We first provide an overview of the pandemic in the UK context, outlining the nature of the public health response. We then introduce four distinct domains of social relationships: social networks, social support, social interaction and intimacy, highlighting the mechanisms through which the pandemic and associated public health response drastically altered social interactions in each domain. Throughout the essay, the lens of health inequalities, and perspective of relationships as interconnecting elements in a broader system, is used to explore the varying impact of these disruptions. The essay concludes by providing recommendations for longer term recovery ensuring that the social relational cost of COVID-19 is adequately considered in efforts to rebuild.

Battling ingroup bias with effective intergroup leadership

Intergroup conflict and bias often occur between subgroups nested within a superordinate group. In these situations, the leader of the superordinate group plays a key role, as an intergroup leader, in reducing conflict. To be effective, an intergroup leader should avoid (1) threatening the subgroups' distinctive identities, and (2) being viewed by one or both groups as 'one of them' rather than 'one of us'. Intergroup leadership theory (Acad Manag Rev, 37, 2012a, 232) posits intergroup leaders can improve subgroup relations by promoting an intergroup relational identity. Two studies (Ns = 178 and 223) tested whether an out-subgroup or in-subgroup leader could improve intergroup attitudes, even among strong subgroup identifiers, by promoting either an intergroup relational identity or a collective identity. We hypothesized an interaction of these variables demonstrating the effectiveness of an intergroup relational identity message for an out-subgroup leader in lessening ingroup bias, especially among strong subgroup identification. Our results, and a meta-analytic summary across both studies (N = 401), supported our hypothesis and intergroup leadership theory, demonstrating an intergroup relational identity is an effective strategy for improving intergroup relations.

Knowledge About Individuals' Interracial Friendships Is Systematically Associated With Mental Representations of Race, Traits, and Group Solidarity

Individuals with other-race friends are perceived to identify less strongly with their racial in-group than are individuals with same-race friends. Using the reverse-correlation technique, we show that this effect goes beyond perceptions of social identification, influencing how people are mentally represented. In four studies with Black and White American participants, we demonstrate a “racial assimilation effect”: Participants, independent of their own race, represented both Black and White targets with other-race friends as phenotypically more similar to the respective racial out-group. Representations of targets with racial out-group friends were subsequently rated as more likely to engage in social action supportive of the racial out-group. Out-group targets with other-race friends were represented more favorably than out-group targets with mostly same-race friends. White participants had particularly negative representations of in-group members with mostly Black friends. The present research suggests that individuals’ social networks influence how their race and associated traits are mentally represented.

Does Respect Foster Tolerance? (Re)analyzing and Synthesizing Data From a Large Research Project Using Meta-Analytic Techniques

Our own prior research has demonstrated that respect for disapproved others predicts and might foster tolerance toward them. This means that without giving up their disapproval of others' way of life, people can tolerate others when they respect them as equals (outgroup respect-tolerance hypothesis). Still, there was considerable variation in the study features. Moreover, the studies are part of a larger research project that affords many additional tests of our hypothesis. To achieve integration along with a more robust understanding of the relation between respect and tolerance, we (re)analyzed all existing data from this project, and we synthesized the results with the help of meta-analytic techniques. The average standardized regression coefficient, which describes the relationship between respect and tolerance, was 0.25 (95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.16, 0.34]). In addition to this overall confirmation of our hypothesis, the size of this coefficient varied with a number of variables. It was larger for numerical majorities than for minorities, smaller for high-status than for low-status groups, and larger for religious than for life-style groups. These findings should inspire further theory development and spur growth in the social-psychological literature on tolerance.

The effect of direct and extended contact on attitudes towards social robots

The development of social robots has the potential to address significant societal concerns, however, most people have limited experience of such technology. The present research investigated whether techniques borrowed from the psychology of intergroup relations – namely direct and extended contact – affect people's attitudes towards robots. Participants were provided with either direct contact with a social robot or extended contact (these participants watched a video recorded by a friend who had met the robot) before their explicit and implicit attitudes towards robots were measured. Results indicated that direct contact affected both explicit and implicit attitudes, while extended contact affected implicit attitudes. The implication of these findings is that contact with a robot, direct or indirect, can change attitudes; much as previous research has shown that contact with a person who is a member of an out-group can change attitudes towards that group. We conclude that methods and theories from the study of human intergroup relationships can be usefully applied to understand attitudes toward social robots.

Another step to school inclusion: Development and validation of the Children's Attitudes Toward Autism Questionnaire

LAY ABSTRACT

Research has shown that negative attitudes toward a different child can appear very early in development. Unfortunately, these negative attitudes are one of the most important barriers to the school inclusion of children with autism. Despite the increasing amount of research, no tool reliably measures these attitudes among young students. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a questionnaire (Children's Attitudes Toward Autism Questionnaire) to evaluate attitudes of students in elementary school toward their peers with autism. Elementary school students (N = 204) completed the Children's Attitudes Toward Autism Questionnaire and two other scales assessing behavioral intentions toward peers with a mental disability (Shared Activities Questionnaire-B) and familiarity with disability and autism. Results first showed that the Children's Attitudes Toward Autism Questionnaire reliably measured the concept of attitude through three sub-dimensions (namely, the cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions). Second, analyses confirmed that the Children's Attitudes Toward Autism Questionnaire corresponds with previous knowledge on this topic, namely, that attitudes were more positive in girls, older children, and children familiar with disability. In conclusion, the Children's Attitudes Toward Autism Questionnaire is the first scale (1) to assess all the dimensions of attitudes toward autism among elementary school children (from the age of 6 years old) and (2) to show theoretical and statistical relevance. From now on, the Children's Attitudes Toward Autism Questionnaire can be used to assess attitudes of young children toward their peers with autism. This is an important step forward, in particular for evaluating the effects of anti-stigma programs that are increasingly implemented in schools.

In the Ear of the Listener: The Role of Foreign Accent in Interethnic Friendships and Partnerships

This article examines the association between accented speech and the formation of friendships and partnerships among immigrants and native-born majority residents in Germany. Drawing on the sixth wave of the German extension of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries, we analyze a neglected aspect of language — pronunciation — and find that speaking with a foreign accent is a more important correlate of the incidence of interethnic partnerships than of interethnic friendships. We argue that beyond its primary function of understandability, accented speech possesses socially communicative power. Accent transmits signals of an individual’s foreignness and cultural differences and, thus, becomes an additional marker of social distance. Such signals serve as a greater obstacle to more consequential intimate interethnic relations such as partnerships. Our findings extend the scholarly debate on the role of symbolic boundaries in social interactions between ethnic groups by yet another important boundary maker — accent.

An ally you say? Endorsing White women as allies to encourage perceptions of allyship and organizational identity-safety among Black women

Black women often question their belonging in organizational environments, and exposure to an allyship cue, such as a White woman endorsed as an ally, may help mitigate such concerns. We examine whether ally endorsement can help a White female employee cue allyship, and in turn, serve as an effective organizational identity-safety cue for Black women high in stigma consciousness. We found that, relative to viewing a White female employee, Black women that viewed a White female employee endorsed as an ally reported greater perceptions of allyship, which had important downstream consequences for organizational identity-safety. Specifically, perceptions of allyship predicted greater anticipated trust and belonging within the organization among participants both high (Experiments 1 and 2) and low (Experiment 2) in stigma consciousness. The present studies demonstrate that ally endorsement effectively cues allyship, and in turn, signals organizational identity-safety for Black women across varying levels of stigma consciousness.

Public stigma towards prolonged grief disorder: Does diagnostic labeling matter?

The recent introduction of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) as a diagnostic category may cause negative social reactions (i.e. public stigma). Vignette experiments demonstrate that persons with both PGD symptoms and a PGD diagnosis elicit more public stigma than persons who experience integrated grief. However, the strength of the influence of the diagnosis itself remains unclear: We aimed to clarify if the diagnostic label PGD produces additional public stigma beyond PGD symptoms. We further compared whether public stigma varies between the label PGD and the label major depressive episode (MDE) (when PGD symptoms are present) and if gender of the bereaved person influences public stigma or moderates the aforementioned effects. Eight-hundred fifty-two participants (77% female; M_age = 32.6 years, SD = 13.3) were randomly assigned to read online one of eight vignettes describing either a bereaved male or female, with PGD symptoms and PGD diagnosis; PGD symptoms and MDE diagnosis; PGD symptoms and no diagnosis, or no PGD symptoms and no diagnosis (i.e., integrated grief). Following the vignettes, participants indicated which negative characteristics they ascribed to the person, their emotional reactions, and preferred social distance from the person. People with PGD symptoms and PGD (or MDE) diagnosis were attributed more negative characteristics, and elicited more negative emotions and a stronger desire for social distance than people with integrated grief. However, public stigma did not differ for people with both PGD symptoms and diagnosis compared to people only experiencing PGD symptoms. Gender of the bereaved only had an influence on desired social distance, which was larger towards men. Helping severely distressed bereaved people (regardless of diagnostic status) cope with negative social reactions may help them adapt to bereavement. Results demonstrate that the experience of severe grief reactions, yet not a diagnostic label per se, causes public stigma.

Does classroom diversity improve intergroup relations? Short- and long-term effects of classroom diversity for cross-ethnic friendships and anti-immigrant attitudes in adolescence

This study examined short- and long-term effects of ethnic classroom diversity for intergroup relations in adolescence. Using a five-year panel of Swedish majority youth ( MageT1 = 13.40, MageT5 = 17.30), we found only limited direct effects of classroom diversity on anti-immigrant attitudes. However, classroom diversity increased the likelihood of cross-ethnic friendships, which in turn was associated with lower levels of anti-immigrant attitudes. Moreover, we found that the effect of classroom diversity on friendships remained also after adolescents transitioned to new schools. The findings highlight the importance of longitudinal analyses and contribute to a deeper understanding of how intergroup relations develop during adolescence. It brings new insights related to the longevity of classroom effects and to cross-ethnic friendships’ ability to mediate the diversity–attitudes relationship.

When Does Imagined Contact Reduce Prejudice?

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.

Fusion of “You and Me”: Cultural Mixing Promotes Intergroup Psychological Compatibility

Previous research has mainly examined individuals’ attitudes to cultural mixing per se, and rarely examined the attitudes to the outgroup involved in cultural mixing. Exposure to ingroup–outgroup cultural mixing may be an indirect intergroup contact, which can promote individuals’ psychological compatibility toward the corresponding cultural outgroup. We measured Chinese Yi undergraduates’ experience of Yi-Tibetan cultural mixing in Study 1 and found it was significantly correlated with psychological compatibility toward Tibetans. We then used a between-subjects design and experimentally manipulated Yi participants’ exposure to cultural mixing to verify the causal effect of exposure to Yi-Dai cultural mixing on psychological compatibility toward Dai (the Yi and Dai are two of the 55 ethnic minorities in China from different provinces and have their own unique culture; Study 2) and the mediating role of perceived connection (Studies 3 and 4). These findings suggest that exposure to cultural mixing facilitates intergroup psychological compatibility, and this beneficial effect is mediated by perceived connection.

I (dis)like the way you (dis)like them: The role of extended contact on social distance and attitudes towards the ingroup

While extended intergroup contact has been commonly studied in the context of prejudice reduction, less is known about its implications for processes related to the ingroup. Through three correlational and one experimental studies (total N = 897) conducted in two different intergroup contexts (Turkey and United Kingdom), we investigated whether extended intergroup contact relates to social distance and attitudes towards ingroup members as a function of outgroup attitudes. We also investigated ingroup identification and perceived ingroup morality as potential mediators in these associations. Correlational studies demonstrated that especially when outgroup attitudes were more negative, participants' positive (but not negative) extended contact was related to a more negative evaluation of the ingroup; whereas when outgroup attitudes were more positive, extended contact was associated with positive attitudes towards the ingroup. We found experimental evidence for the suggested relationships in relation to ingroup social distance. Findings are discussed in the light of vicarious dissonance theory and deprovincialization hypothesis.

The role of peer, parental, and school norms in predicting adolescents' attitudes and behaviours of majority and different minority ethnic groups in Croatia

Social norms in general have an important role in the regulation of intergroup relations. However, the effects of one specific type of social norms-in-group norms about intergroup contact-have not yet been extensively studied, especially among groups of different status or in different intergroup contexts. The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of three types of contact norms (peer, parental and school) on four intergroup outcomes (in-group bias, social distance, tendency to discriminate, prosocial behaviour towards the outgroup) among ethnic majority and minority adolescents from four different intergroup contexts of the Republic of Croatia, as well as to test for moderating effects of age, social status and intergroup context in the strength of these effects. The research was carried out on a sample of 1440 elementary and high school students, members of Croatian majority, and Serbian, Hungarian, Czech, and Italian minority. The results indicated that although all three types of norms predict most of the intergroup outcomes, their relative importance depends on the specific type of intergroup outcome (attitudinal or behavioural), group social status (majority or minority), intergroup context (history of a recent intergroup conflict or not), and for peer norms on the age of the adolescent.

Intercultural Relations among Ukrainian Immigrants Living in Portugal

The purpose of this research was to test specific predictions based on three general hypotheses: the integration hypothesis, the contact hypothesis, and the multiculturalism hypothesis. The sample included 218 Ukrainian immigrants with an average of 39 years. The average length of time residing in Portugal was 10 years. As regards the integration hypothesis, psychological adaptation and intercultural adaptation were predicted by integration, while sociocultural adaptation was only predicted by marginalization. Thus, the integration hypothesis was partially supported for Ukrainian immigrants living in Portugal. The contact hypothesis tended to be supported, as intercultural contact was predicted by higher positive attitudes toward Portuguese, and assimilation. However, integration has not emerged as a significant predictor of intercultural contact. This sample displayed a relatively low level of perceived discrimination. In line with the multiculturalism hypothesis, perceived discrimination was negatively related to tolerance, attitude towards Portuguese, attitude towards other immigrants, and positively related to preference for separation and marginalization. Findings are discussed considering the existing literature.

Outgroup morality perceptions mediate secondary transfer effects from direct and extended contact: Evidence from majority and minority group members

The secondary transfer effect (STE), defined as contact with a primary outgroup improving attitudes towards a secondary outgroup uninvolved in contact, has mainly been studied with reference to direct contact and considering attitude generalization as the main mediating mechanism. Using a majority (422 Italians) and minority (130 immigrants) adolescent sample from high schools in Italy, we examined outgroup morality perceptions as a new mediating mechanism, and tested for the first time whether the STE emerges for extended contact. Results revealed that the STE emerged for direct contact among the majority group and for extended contact among the minority group, and it was sequentially mediated by perceptions of morality towards the primary outgroup, and by attitudes towards the primary outgroup and perceptions of morality towards the secondary outgroup. The STE also emerged for direct contact among the minority group, with morality perceptions towards the secondary outgroup and attitudes towards the primary outgroup being parallel mediators. We discuss the theoretical implications of the findings, arguing that it is important to identify the conditions and underlying processes of the STE in order to reduce prejudice in the case of both majority and minority groups.

The effect of educational priming on face recognition from a silver alert

In a between-subjects' experimental design, we manipulated whether participants viewed an educational video on the importance of Silver Alerts before viewing an older Caucasian female in a Silver Alert. We also examined associations of target recognition with individual difference variables, including gender, ethnicity, Attitudes Towards Older People (ATOP), empathy, conscientiousness, as well as contact and experience with older adults. The results showed an advantage of the priming condition compared to the no-priming condition for correctly identifying the missing woman. Additionally, females correctly identified the missing woman more than males, and Caucasian participants correctly identified the missing woman more than African American participants. Lastly, participants who reported more experience with older adults were more likely to recognize the missing woman. The results suggest that preceding Silver Alerts with information about their importance may increase their effectiveness. Further research is needed to investigate how individual difference variables relate to recognition of missing senior citizens.