How positive and negative intergroup contact jointly inform minority support for social change: The role of system-fairness beliefs

Research suggests that positive contact with majorities may 'sedate' (undermine) minority support for social change, while negative contact may promote it. However, most studies to date have examined both forms of contact separately, which may not give an accurate picture of their effects. This study examines the joint effects and interplay of positive and negative contact on minority support for social change, and the role of system-fairness beliefs across seven ethnic minority samples in six countries (N = 790). Multigroup Structural Equation Modelling showed that negative contact predicted higher minority support for social change. Positive contact predicted both less support for social change indirectly via enhanced system-fairness beliefs, and more support for social change directly. Except for one national context, the total effects of positive contact were either non-significant or significantly positive. This shows that increased system-fairness beliefs can explain sedative effects of positive contact, and that positive contact may also promote support for social change. We conclude that sedative effects of positive contact may be overestimated by not considering negative contact.

Early perceptions of COVID-19 intensity and anti-Asian prejudice among White Americans

Anecdotal reports suggested an uptick in anti-Asian prejudice corresponding with the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Examining responses from White U.S. citizens (N = 589) during the first months of the pandemic, this study tested: (a) whether actual intensity (official number of cases or deaths reported) or perceived intensity (participants' estimates of the same) of the COVID-19 outbreak predicted indicators of racial outgroup prejudice, particularly those associated with cross-group interaction, (b) whether outgroup prejudice was oriented toward Asian people specifically, or toward racial outgroups more broadly (e.g., toward both Asian people and Black people), and (c) whether contact with racial outgroups moderated relations between COVID-19 intensity and racial prejudice. Results showed that perceived COVID-19 intensity was associated with prejudice indicators representing the desire for social distance from Asian people, as well as from Black people, yet it was unrelated to reports of negative affect toward either racial outgroup. These patterns support the idea that prejudice during periods of disease outbreak might functionally serve to reduce willingness for interaction with, and likelihood of infection from, racial outgroups. Contact moderated the relation between official reports of COVID-19 intensity and support for anti-China travel policies, such that greater contact with Asian people was associated with less support for exclusionary, anti-China travel policies when actual COVID-19 intensity was high. Overall, these results suggest that intensity of disease threat can exacerbate racial outgroup prejudice and reduce willingness for cross-group interaction, but that intergroup contact may sometimes provide a prejudice-attenuating effect.

Skin Tone and Mexicans’ Perceptions of Discrimination in New Immigrant Destinations

Colorism literature examines how skin tone—alongside prototypical group features and hairstyles—correlates with socioeconomic, health, and political outcomes. Yet few studies have explicitly operationalized how skin tone shapes Latinos’ experiences of racialization in “new” U.S. destinations. Here, we draw on a large, representative sample of Mexican immigrants (N = 500) living in two large metropolitan areas (Atlanta and Philadelphia) to investigate how skin tone shapes their perceptions about the frequency and sources of discrimination. Even after controlling for demographic, economic, and immigration–specific factors, including ethnoracial self–identification, we show darker skin tone is significantly associated with higher reports of racial discrimination, discrimination specifically from U.S.-born Whites, and a stronger tendency to struggle internally in response. Together, these results support colorism literature’s argument that skin tone is distinct from race and offer new insights into how skin tone shapes the lived experiences of Mexican immigrants outside the U.S. Southwest.

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.

When White Americans see “non-Whites” as a group: Belief in minority collusion and support for White identity politics

White Americans may find diversity threatening in part because they construe non-White Americans as a coherent social and political force. We argue that this perception manifests in a belief that minority groups collude against White people and that White people should act as a political bloc to defend ingroup interests. In a 3-year longitudinal study, the belief in minority collusion and support for White identity politics increased significantly among a nationally representative sample of 2,635 White Americans. Compared to White Democrats, White Republicans more strongly endorsed minority collusion beliefs and White identity politics, and increased more in these beliefs over time. Essentialist perceptions of the White ingroup were associated with longitudinal increases in minority collusion beliefs, but not in support for White identity politics. Endorsement of minority collusion and support for White identity politics both predicted lower support for Black Lives Matter and greater support for the Alt-Right movement. Implications for race relations, stigma-based solidarity, and the psychology of partisanship and ideology are discussed.

Need satisfaction in intergroup contact: A multinational study of pathways toward social change

What role does intergroup contact play in promoting support for social change toward greater social equality? Drawing on the needs-based model of reconciliation, we theorized that when inequality between groups is perceived as illegitimate, disadvantaged group members will experience a need for empowerment and advantaged group members a need for acceptance. When intergroup contact satisfies each group's needs, it should result in more mutual support for social change. Using four sets of survey data collected through the Zurich Intergroup Project in 23 countries, we tested several preregistered predictions, derived from the above reasoning, across a large variety of operationalizations. Two studies of disadvantaged groups (Ns = 689 ethnic minority members in Study 1 and 3,382 sexual/gender minorities in Study 2) support the hypothesis that, after accounting for the effects of intergroup contact and perceived illegitimacy, satisfying the need for empowerment (but not acceptance) during contact is positively related to support for social change. Two studies with advantaged groups (Ns = 2,937 ethnic majority members in Study 3 and 4,203 cis-heterosexual individuals in Study 4) showed that, after accounting for illegitimacy and intergroup contact, satisfying the need for acceptance (but also empowerment) is positively related to support for social change. Overall, findings suggest that intergroup contact is compatible with efforts to promote social change when group-specific needs are met. Thus, to encourage support for social change among both disadvantaged and advantaged group members, it is essential that, besides promoting mutual acceptance, intergroup contact interventions also give voice to and empower members of disadvantaged groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Meta-humanization enhances positive reactions to prosocial cross-group interaction

The present research investigated whether learning that an outgroup humanizes the ingroup (i.e., meta-humanization) enhances how people react to intergroup prosocial behaviours and their willingness to engage in intergroup contact. In three experiments conducted in two cultural contexts (Kosovo and North Macedonia; n = 601), we manipulated meta-humanization by informing participants that their ingroup is perceived to be as human as the outgroup by outgroup members. We compare this meta-humanization condition with a meta-dehumanization condition in which the participant's ingroup is perceived to be less human than the outgroup (Experiments 1 and 3), a meta-liking condition in which the participant's ingroup is liked as much as the outgroup (Experiment 2), and a control condition (Experiments 1 and 2). Overall, results showed that participants in the meta-humanization condition attributed more empathy and prosocial motives to a potential outgroup helper and were more willing to accept outgroup help and engage in future intergroup contact than participants in the other conditions. In addition, positive perceptions of the outgroup helper mediated the effect of meta-humanization on willingness to accept outgroup help and engage in intergroup contact. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for intergroup relations and reconciliation efforts.

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

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Common Academic Experiences No One Talks About: Repeated Rejection, Impostor Syndrome, and Burnout

Academic life is full of learning, excitement, and discovery. However, academics also experience professional challenges at various points in their career, including repeated rejection, impostor syndrome, and burnout. These negative experiences are rarely talked about publicly, creating a sense of loneliness and isolation for people who presume they are the only ones affected by such setbacks. However, nearly everyone has these experiences at one time or another; therefore, talking about them should be a normal part of academic life. The goal of this article is to explore and destigmatize the common experiences of rejection, impostor syndrome, and burnout by sharing a collection of short personal stories from scholars at various stages of their careers with various types of academic positions. Josh Ackerman, Kate Sweeny, and Ludwin Molina discuss how they have dealt with repeated rejection. Linda Tropp, Nick Rule, and Brooke Vick share experiences with impostor syndrome. Finally, Bertram Gawronski, Lisa Jaremka, Molly Metz, and Will Ryan discuss how they have experienced burnout.

Beyond dislike: Blatant dehumanization predicts teacher discrimination

School teachers have been shown to favor ethnic majority over minority students. However, it is unclear what psychological processes motivate ethnicity-based discrimination. Of the studies that have examined the psychological roots of teacher discrimination, most have focused on implicit or explicit prejudice. We propose an alternate predictor: dehumanization. Using a within-subject paradigm with a small-scale experiment ( N = 29) and a larger scale replication ( N = 161), we find that Hungarian preservice teachers consistently discriminate against Roma minority students by recommending that they be denied entry to higher track secondary schools, and preferentially placing them into lower track schools, relative to equally qualified ethnic majority Hungarian students, and that the severity of the ethnic tracking bias is predicted by dehumanization (but not prejudice). In fact, the relationship between dehumanization and discrimination holds (and may be significantly stronger) for teachers who express the lowest levels of prejudice towards the Roma.

Are White Women Showing Up for Racial Justice? Intergroup Contact, Closeness to People Targeted by Prejudice, and Collective Action

Although scholars have suggested that relationships with people of color can enhance White people’s commitment to racial justice, many women of color have questioned whether White people, and White women in particular, actually “show up” to protest for racial justice. Focusing on the contact experiences and closeness White women have with people from racial and ethnic groups different from their own, we tested how these relationships may predict their reported motivations to engage in protests for racial justice. With a broad online sample of White American women (Study 1), and White women who attended the 2017 Women’s March (Study 2), our results showed that both positive contact and closeness to people targeted by prejudice predicted White women’s willingness to participate in protests for racial justice (Studies 1 and 2). Only closeness to people targeted by prejudice significantly predicted actual participation in collective action for racial justice (Studies 1 and 2) and also predicted motivation for racial justice among those who attended the 2017 Women’s March (Study 2). Findings suggest that White women’s inclinations to protest for racial justice may be linked to the close relationships they have with people targeted by prejudice, while more general forms of positive contact may not be related to such action. Additional online materials for this article are available on PWQ ’s website at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0361684319840269 . Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ' s website at http://journals.sagepub.com/page/pwq/suppl/index

How friendship is defined matters for predicting intergroup attitudes: Shared activities and mutual trust with cross-ethnic peers during late childhood and early adolescence

We examined how two different definitions of cross-ethnic friendships, namely reciprocal peer nominations for shared activities and mutual trust, predict attitudes towards immigrant students among non-immigrant Swiss children and early adolescents ( N = 309). Among both Swiss children and early adolescents, only the number of mutually trusting peer nominations with immigrant students, but not the number of mutual nominations for shared activities, positively predicted inclusive intergroup attitudes. In addition, the perception of cooperation on a common goal in the classroom positively correlated with the number of cross-ethnic—but not same-ethnic—friends whom students trusted. We discuss the implications of our findings in relation to developmental research on the antecedents of intergroup attitudes and positive cross-ethnic relationships among children and early adolescents.

Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of Intergroup Contact: Descriptions and Mediators of Positive and Negative Contact Among Majority and Minority Groups

Positive contact predicts reduced prejudice, but negative contact may increase prejudice at a stronger rate. The current project builds on this work in four ways: establishing an understanding of contact that is grounded in subjective experience, examining the affective mediators involved in the negative contact-prejudice relationship, extending research on the effects of positive and negative contact to minority groups, and examining the contact asymmetry experimentally. Study 1 introduced anger as a mediator of the relationships between positive and negative contact and prejudice among White Americans ( N = 371), using a contact measure that reflected the frequency and intensity of a wide range of experiences. Study 2 found a contact asymmetry among Black and Hispanic Americans ( N = 365). Study 3 found initial experimental evidence of a contact asymmetry ( N = 309). We conclude by calling for a more nuanced understanding of intergroup contact that recognizes its multifaceted and subjective nature.

Making Advantaged Racial Groups Care About Inequality: Intergroup Contact as a Route to Psychological Investment

Racial inequality remains an objective reality in the United States and around the world, yet members of advantaged racial groups often deny or minimize its existence. Although we have well-developed theories to explain why advantaged racial groups would be motivated to deny or minimize inequality, at present we know relatively little about why Whites and other advantaged racial groups might be willing to acknowledge or care about racial inequality. In this article, we propose that contact between racial groups offers one of the most promising pathways to advance these outcomes. We review established and emerging research literature suggesting that contact contributes to these outcomes by encouraging members of advantaged racial groups to become psychologically invested in the perspectives, experiences, and welfare of members of disadvantaged racial groups. We propose that psychological processes such as building empathy, enhancing personal relevance, and humanizing other people can facilitate the extent to which contact leads to greater psychological investment in other racial groups. We conclude by discussing several factors that may serve as obstacles to psychological investment across racial lines and the relevance of contact and establishing connections between racial groups in light of current social divisions and racial tensions.

How Contact Experiences Shape Welcoming: Perspectives from U.S.-Born and Immigrant Groups

This research examines how intergroup contact experiences—including both their frequency and their qualities (friendly, discriminatory)—predict indicators of welcoming among U.S.-born and immigrant groups. Analyzing a new survey of U.S.-born groups (whites and blacks) and immigrant groups (Mexicans and Indians) from the Atlanta and Philadelphia metropolitan areas (total N = 2,006), we examine welcoming as a key dimension of social integration. Along with reporting their contact experiences, survey respondents indicated the extent to which they are inclined to welcome and feel welcomed by each of the other groups. Results consistently demonstrated that greater contact frequency predicted greater tendencies to welcome and feel welcomed by each of the other groups. These effects persisted even when demographic characteristics, perceived discrimination, and exposure are included as predictors in the models. Findings also suggested that racial and nativity hierarchies shape how perceived discrimination predicts welcoming others and feeling welcomed by others.

The Racial and Economic Context of Trump Support

Donald Trump’s ascent to the Presidency of the United States defied the expectations of many social scientists, pundits, and laypeople. To date, most efforts to understand Trump’s rise have focused on personality and demographic characteristics of White Americans. In contrast, the present work leverages a nationally representative sample of Whites to examine how contextual factors may have shaped support for Trump during the 2016 presidential primaries. Results reveal that neighborhood-level exposure to racial and ethnic minorities predicts greater group threat and racial identification among Whites as well as greater intentions to vote for Trump in the general election. At the same time, however, neighborhood diversity afforded Whites with opportunities for intergroup contact, which predicted lower levels of threat, White identification, and Trump support. Further analyses suggest that a healthy local economy mutes threat effects in diverse contexts, allowing contact processes to come to the fore.

How negative contact and positive contact with Whites predict collective action among racial and ethnic minorities

Positive contact with advantaged group members can improve disadvantaged group members' attitudes towards them, yet it may also lower perceptions of group discrimination and consequent collective action. Little is known, however, about how negative contact with the advantaged predicts collective action among members of disadvantaged groups. With samples of Black and Hispanic Americans, we tested positive and negative contact with White Americans as predictors of self-reported collective action behaviour and future intentions. Across both samples, negative contact with White Americans predicted greater collective action, largely through the mechanisms of perceived discrimination and intergroup anger. Simultaneously, positive contact showed a negative indirect effect on collective action primarily through reduced anger. These findings suggest that negative contact may be a potential driver of social change among racial minorities. Implications of these findings for the contact and collective action literatures are discussed.

Whites for racial justice: How contact with Black Americans predicts support for collective action among White Americans

Advantaged group members have an important role to play in creating social change, and intergroup contact has tremendous implications in shaping intergroup relations. However, little research has examined how intergroup contact predicts advantaged group members’ inclinations toward collective action to support the interests of disadvantaged groups. The present research investigates how contact with Black Americans shapes White Americans’ willingness to engage in collective action for racial justice and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Three studies of White Americans (total N = 821) consistently reveal that positive contact with Black Americans predicts greater support for collective action through a sequential process of fostering greater feelings of empathy for Black Americans and anger over injustice. These findings hold even when taking into account other relevant psychological factors (i.e., White guilt and identification, negative contact, group efficacy, and moral convictions). The present research contributes to our understanding of how advantaged group members come to engage in social change efforts.

Are they for us or against us? How intergroup metaperceptions shape foreign policy attitudes

We identify public opinion polls from other countries as an important form of indirect exposure to outgroups, and an important source of intergroup metaperceptions, outgroup perceptions, and support for group-level behavior towards outgroups. Three experiments demonstrate a two-step process through which such exposure affects support for ingroup behaviors that facilitate peaceful or violent intergroup relations. When indirectly exposed to national outgroups, Americans inferred intergroup metaperceptions (Step 1), which, in turn, shaped outgroup perceptions (Step 2). This effect and its underlying process occurred in relation to both fictitious (Experiment 2) and real outgroups (Iran, Experiment 1; Germany, Saudi Arabia, Experiment 3), as well as those similar (Germany) and dissimilar (Saudi Arabia) to the ingroup (Experiment 3). Further, this effect occurred beyond ingroup perceptions (Experiments 1–3), perceived intergroup threat (Experiments 2–3), and intergroup similarity (Experiment 3). Contributions to the literatures on cross-group contact, intergroup perceptions and attitudes, and image theory are discussed.

Being Seen As Individuals Versus As Group Members: Extending Research on Metaperception to Intergroup Contexts

Recent research has begun to examine people's expectations for how they are viewed in intergroup contexts, yet little work has considered how these metaperceptions relate to those that emerge in interpersonal contexts. As we extend research on metaperceptions into the intergroup realm, we must address several important conceptual issues. In this article, we provide a general overview of research on interpersonal metaperceptions, along with many factors that are likely to affect whether people think they are viewed as individuals or as group members. We also consider how metaperceptions are likely to be formed differently in interpersonal and intergroup contexts, and depending on the group membership of the perceiver We then explore the consequences of different kinds of metaperceptions for intergroup relations, and how they relate to strategies we might use to improve intergroup relations, to suggest future directions for research on metaperceptions in intergroup contexts.

The Psychological Impact of Prejudice: Implications for Intergroup Contact

This research concerns the effects of prejudice on how members of devalued groups feel toward intergroup contact. With members of laboratory-generated groups (Study 1) and devalued ethnic groups (Study 2), two experimental studies tested the impact of exposure to prejudice on emotional states and feelings toward cross-group interactions. Results suggest that exposure to prejudice can negatively affect group members' emotional states in intergroup contexts, and can lead them to feel more negatively toward interactions with both a single, prejudiced outgroup member, and with outgroup members in general. Implications of the findings and suggested directions for future research are discussed.

What Benefits the Group Can Also Benefit the Individual: Group-Enhancing and Individual-Enhancing Motives for Collective Action

Most collective action research focuses on how concerns for the welfare of one's group can motivate support for collective action. By contrast, little research has examined how motivations for enhancing oneself as an individual may also predict support for collective action, and how these motivations relate to feelings of identification with one's group. This research tests whether motivations for individual enhancement can predict support for collective action, beyond what can be predicted by motivations for group enhancement. With an undergraduate sample, Study 1 shows that individual enhancement significantly predicts interest and involvement in collective action beyond what can be predicted by concerns for group enhancement. Study 2 replicates these findings in a community sample of women, while also demonstrating that the motivation for individual enhancement mediates the relationship between group identification and collective action. Implications of these findings for future research on collective action are discussed.

Ingroup Identification as the Inclusion of Ingroup in the Self

This article presents a basic conceptualization of ingroup identification as the degree to which the ingroup is included in the self and introduces the Inclusion of Ingroup in the Self (IIS) measure to reflect this conceptualization. Using responses from samples of women and ethnic minority groups, four studies demonstrate the utility of this conceptualization of ingroup identification and provide support for the IIS. Results from these studies establish construct validity, concurrent and discriminant validity, and high degrees of test-retest reliability for the IIS. Reaction time evidence also is provided, supporting the use of the IIS as a measure of ingroup identification. Particular strengths of this conceptualization of ingroup identification and potential uses for the IIS are discussed.

Differential Relationships Between Intergroup Contact and Affective and Cognitive Dimensions of Prejudice

Research on affective dimensions of intergroup relationships suggests that positive effects of intergroup contact can generalize through establishing affective ties with outgroup members. However, research on cognitive dimensions emphasizes that it is often difficult to generalize positive contact outcomes. In this research, the authors examine whether affective and cognitive dimensions of prejudice bear different relationships to intergroup contact. Using data from a larger meta-analysis of contact effects, Study 1 demonstrates that affective indicators of prejudice typically yield stronger, inverse contact-prejudice relationships than such cognitive indicators as stereotypes. Study 2 replicates these trends in a survey study using multiple indicators of affective and cognitive dimensions of prejudice. Study 2 also shows significant, inverse relationships between contact and affective prejudice when contact is assessed either as number of outgroup friends or intergroup closeness. Together, these results suggest that affective dimensions of intergroup relationships are especially critical for understanding the nature of contact-prejudice effects.

Perceived Discrimination and Interracial Contact: Predicting Interracial Closeness among Black and White Americans

This research examines whether perceptions of discrimination moderate relationships between interracial contact and feelings of interracial closeness among black and white Americans, using survey responses gathered by the National Conference for Community and Justice (2000). Results indicate that the general association between contact and interracial closeness is significantly weaker among black respondents than among white respondents. Moreover, while contact relates consistently to greater interracial closeness among white respondents, perceived discrimination moderates this relationship among black respondents, such that significant contact effects are not observed for those who perceive considerable discrimination against their racial group. At the same time, other results suggest that contact in the form of interracial friendships may help to augment black Americans' reports of interracial closeness, and diminish the role of perceived discrimination. Implications of these findings for future studies of contact between members of racial minority and majority groups are discussed.

Learning orientation as a predictor of positive intergroup contact

Adapting the goal orientation framework from the achievement motivation literature, the present research tests whether learning orientation, as compared to performance orientation, predicts greater comfort and interest in intergroup contact. These links are examined in a cross-sectional survey of European American and African American middle school students (Study 1), and in a longitudinal survey with European American high school students (Study 2). Both studies yielded converging evidence that while performance orientation generally had a negative association with comfort and interest, a stronger orientation toward learning predicted greater comfort and interest in intergroup contact. The links between the learning orientation and comfort and interest in intergroup contact were consistent across both racial groups in Study 1, and in longitudinal analyses in Study 2. Together, these findings point to learning orientation as a potentially important means for promoting positive intergroup contact.

Ethnic identification in response to perceived discrimination protects well-being and promotes activism: A longitudinal study of Latino college students

Using structural equation modeling and cross-lagged analyses, this longitudinal study investigates ethnic identification, a group-based coping strategy, as a mediator of the influence of perceived discrimination on psychological well-being and willingness to engage in activism on behalf of one’s ethnic group among Latino students in both their first and fourth years of college. We found cross-sectional evidence for the rejection–identification model (RIM) during both years of college. Further, multiple step bootstrapping analyses of the longitudinal data showed that the relationships between perceived discrimination during Year 1 and both well-being and activism during Year 4 were sequentially mediated by activism during Year 1 predicting ethnic identification during Year 4. These data extend the RIM by including activism as an additional outcome variable that has important implications for Latino students across time.

Cross-group friendships and intergroup attitudes: a meta-analytic review

This work identifies how cross-group friendships are conceptualized and measured in intergroup research, investigates which operationalizations yield the strongest effects on intergroup attitudes, explores potential moderators, and discusses the theoretical importance of the findings. Prior meta-analyses have provided initial evidence that cross-group friendships are especially powerful forms of intergroup contact. Although studies of cross-group friendship have grown considerably in recent years, varied assessments leave us without a clear understanding of how different operationalizations affect relationships between friendship and attitudes. With a greatly expanded database of relevant studies, the authors compared friendship-attitude associations across a wide range of specific conceptualizations. Time spent and self-disclosure with outgroup friends yielded significantly greater associations with attitudes than other friendship measures, suggesting that attitudes are most likely to improve when cross-group friendships involve behavioral engagement. Processes underlying cross-group friendships are discussed, as are implications for future research and application.

When extended contact opens the door to future contact

The present research tests whether extended contact can predict positive intergroup expectancies, as well as positive intergroup attitudes, among majority and minority group members. Our results replicate and extend prior work by showing that extended contact predicts both positive intergroup attitudes and intergroup expectancies among both majority (Spanish) and minority (immigrant) participants, even when controlling for direct friendship and the quantity and quality of prior intergroup contact. These effects are partially mediated by intergroup anxiety, perceived ingroup norms, and perceived outgroup norms, and the positive effects of extended contact on intergroup attitudes were also partially mediated by the inclusion of ingroup in the self. Additionally, the mediating role of outgroup norms was stronger among immigrant participants than among Spanish participants. Implications of these findings and the value of extended contact for promoting positive intergroup expectancies and preparing people for future contact are discussed.

Diversity Beliefs as Moderator of the Contact–Prejudice Relationship

Research on intergroup contact has recently begun to examine how individual differences moderate the reduction of prejudice. We extend this work by examining the moderating role of diversity beliefs, i.e., the strength of individuals’ beliefs that society benefits from ethnic diversity. Results of a survey among 255 university students in the United States show that the relationship between contact and reduced prejudice is stronger for individuals holding less favorable diversity beliefs compared to those with more positive diversity beliefs. Likewise, the relationship between contact and perceived importance of contact is stronger for people with less favorable diversity beliefs. Together with previously reported moderator effects, these results suggest that contact especially benefits people who are the most predisposed to being prejudiced.