Ingroup norms, intergroup contact and intergroup anxiety as predictors of the outgroup attitudes of majority and minority youth

This study focused on the interplay of perceived parental and peer norms and the quality of intergroup contact in predicting outgroup attitudes among majority and minority youth. In addition, the role of intergroup anxiety on the contact-attitude association was studied simultaneously with the effects of social norms. 225 adolescents (93 Finnish majority and 132 Russian-speaking minority youth) were surveyed. As was hypothesized, the effects of intergroup contact and social norms on the outgroup attitudes were different depending on the group status: perceived norms and the quality of intergroup contact had a joint effect on outgroup attitudes only among minority youth. While perceived norms and contact experiences affected the outgroup attitudes of majority group members independently of each other, minority group members’ negative contact experiences were associated with negative attitudes towards the majority only when the perceived ingroup norms supported the expression of negative attitudes. Surprisingly, intergroup anxiety mediated the contact-attitude association only in minority youth, and the effect of contact quality on outgroup attitudes was stronger among the minority than among the majority. The results are discussed in relation to the specific intergroup context in question. It is suggested that both positive ingroup norms and pleasant personal contact experiences play a crucial role in the formation of positive attitudes among minority as well as majority youth, and in some contexts positive norms may be even more important than positive intergroup contact.     

Intergroup contact and the projection of positivity

Three studies investigated whether intergroup contact reduces prejudice, in part, via the extension of positive attributes that define the self to the outgroup. Study 1 found that positive intergroup contact predicted self-outgroup overlap, and this overlap mediated the contact–attitude relationship. This mediational path was specific to outgroup, but not ingroup, attitudes. In Study 2 we found that it was the attribution of specifically positive, as opposed to negative, traits that mediated the contact–attitude relationship in a model that also included intergroup anxiety. In Study 3 an elaborated model was supported, in which perceived self-other similarity mediated the effects of positive contact on the attribution of positive self-traits. We discuss the findings in the context of recent advances in Intergroup Contact Theory.     

Predictors of Finnish Adolescent’s Prejudice towards Russian Immigrants and the Effect of Intergroup Contact

This study examined perceived threat as a predictor of Finnish adolescent’s prejudice towards Russian immigrants. Moreover, since Russian immigrants represent the largest immigrant group in Eastern Finland, this study also explored the relationship between intergroup contact, threat, and prejudice. The sample consisted of 305 Finnish adolescents ranging from 11 to 19 years old. Results showed threat to be a significant predictor of prejudice towards Russian immigrants in Eastern Finland. Individually, negative stereotype was found to be the only threat that significantly predicted prejudice towards Russian immigrants. Realistic and symbolic threats were not important to the attitudes of Finnish adolescents towards Russian immigrants. Moreover, there was no significant relationship between intergroup contact, prejudice, and threat (realistic threat, symbolic threat, and negative stereotype). Implications are also discussed.     

Intergroup contact in context: The mediating role of social norms and group-based perceptions on the contact–prejudice link

The prejudice-reducing effects of intergroup contact have been well documented. However few studies have investigated the importance of the broader context within which contact occurs. The current study examined the predictors of social distance from Muslims in a large sample of Australian secondary school children (N = 980). Intergroup contact was an important predictor of reduced social distance even after demographics and perceptions of parents, school, media and broader intergroup dynamics were taken into account. However, in part the contact–social distance relationship was mediated by perceived parental support for intergroup relations and perceived fairness of media representation. Student's perceptions of broader group dynamics relating to collective threat and differentiation between groups impeded the relationship. The findings attest to the importance of the broader context within which contact occurs. Having contact with outgroup members leads to reduced social distance to the outgroup, however perceived norms and outgroup perceptions play a pivotal role in explaining this relationship.     

Chinese university students’ mediated contact and global competence: Moderation of direct contact and mediation of intergroup anxiety

In recent years, popularity of social media and influx of international students have provided Chinese domestic students ample opportunities to contact with alien cultures both directly and indirectly. To understand impact of the new environment, the present study focused on Chinese domestic undergraduates and proposed a moderated mediation research model examining the relationships between mediated contact (through foreign TV series and movies) and the three dimensions of global competence (global attitudes, skills, and knowledge). We also explored mediation of intergroup anxiety and moderation of direct contact (with international students) underlying these relationships. Results from a multi-group structural equation modeling analysis revealed direct contact as a moderator, modifying the relationship between mediated contact and intergroup anxiety. Specifically, this negative relationship was significant at low, rather than at high levels of direct contact. Further, at low, rather than at high levels of direct contact, mediated contact had indirect relationships with all three dimensions of global competence via the mediator of intergroup anxiety.     

Development of an intergroup anxiety toward Muslims scale

Understanding intergroup relations and the anxiety that can result has become increasingly relevant to interactions between Muslim and non-Muslim individuals due to current tensions between Islamic extremist groups and many Western nations. The anticipated increase in migration from countries with large Islamic populations to Western countries will undoubtedly lead to increased contact between these groups. Currently, there are no measures of intergroup anxiety elicited when interacting specifically with Muslims. Thus, the goal of the current studies was to fill this gap by developing a measure of intergroup anxiety toward Muslims. Across 3 studies, the reliability and validity of a new measure of intergroup anxiety toward Muslims was assessed. An exploratory factor analysis (Study 1) identified 11 reliable items that were supported by confirmatory factor analysis (Study 2). Across all 3 studies, the scale demonstrated good convergent validity, such that participants who reported higher levels of intergroup anxiety toward Muslims also reported more negative attitudes toward Muslims and greater general intergroup anxiety than individuals with lower intergroup anxiety toward Muslims. Assessment of discriminant validity showed that the scale differentiated between attitudes toward Muslims and other out-groups, as well as general anxiety and depression. The Intergroup Anxiety toward Muslims Scale was also reliable across different samples (i.e., college students and community members) and methods of data collection (i.e., online and in person).     

Explaining negative outgroup attitudes between native Dutch and Muslim youth in The Netherlands using the Integrated Threat Theory

Like in many other western countries the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims in The Netherlands is characterized by segregation and negative intergroup attitudes. This study focusses on negative outgroup attitudes among adolescents. We tested whether the Integrated Threat Theory can explain prejudice in native as well as Muslim immigrant youth in The Netherlands. Using a sample of 671 native Dutch and 303 Muslim adolescents we found that Dutch natives scored higher on Negative Outgroup Attitudes, Intergroup Anxiety, Negative Stereotypes, and Negative Experiences, and lower on Contact and Multiculturalism than Muslims. Partial support for the Integrated Threat Theory was found in both samples, and explained variance was higher in the native Dutch sample. Implications include suggestions for interventions aimed at improving relationships.     

Comparing normative influence from multiple groups: Beyond family,religious ingroup norms predict children’s prejudice towards refugees

In the wake of the global refugee crisis, children are exposed to negative attitudes from public and private spheres. Previous research has identified family, peer, and school norms as significant predictors of children’s inter-ethnic attitudes. We extend this literature by examining normative influence from wider society, which has received substantially less attention. Among 266 children (M_age = 11.24), this study investigates the relative contributions of norms from five ingroups (family, class-peers, Irish, religious and all-humanity) to predict children’s anti-refugee bias. Perceptions of positive family and religious norms were the strongest unique predictors of contact intentions and warmth towards refugees. Intergroup anxiety and perceived threat mediated these relationships. Social dominance orientation mediated family normative influence only. These findings highlight the importance of broader groups (beyond that of proximal ingroups) for understanding children’s intergroup attitudes.     

English Proficiency,Identity, Anxiety,and Intergroup Attitudes: US Americans’ Perceptions of Chinese

Guided by the Common Ingroup Identity Model and Berry’s acculturation framework, this study examined the roles that perceptions of language proficiency, cultural identity, and communication anxiety had on intergroup attitudes and stereotypes in the American–Chinese contact context. Serial mediation analyses with 10,000 bootstrap samples revealed that perceived English proficiency of a Chinese contact had significant indirect effects on affective and behavioral attitudes toward Chinese through American participants’ perceptions of their contact’s host and home culture identification and communication anxiety. Perceived English proficiency had an indirect effect only on positive stereotypes through the Chinese contact’s perceived identification with home culture.     

The role of positive and negative contact of migrants with native people in affecting their future interactions. Evidence from Italy and Turkey

This research investigates the relationship between different valence contact of migrants with native people and their motivation to avoid further interactions with the majority group, as a preventing factor of adaptation by either side. Specifically, the joint and differential effects of positive and negative contact of migrants with natives on outgroup avoidance were addressed by examining also the mediating role of affective variables such as stereotype threat, symbolic threat and anxiety. Hypotheses were tested on two samples of African immigrants in Italy and Syrian immigrants in Turkey. Positive contact was not associated with outgroup avoidance and anxiety among African respondents who reported higher negative contact with natives. This evidence was not found among Syrian immigrants. In both samples, however, the moderating role of negative contact was found on stereotype threat. Across the two samples, anxiety was the strongest mediator of the relationship between negative contact of migrants on their avoidance of the majority group. Overall, the evidence we gathered furthers knowledge of the impact of negative intergroup contact on preventing migrant social integration.     

Internal migration and the negative attitudes toward migrant workers in China

We examined the relationship between perceived group threats and citizens’ negative outgroup attitudes toward migrant workers using nationally representative survey data (N = 1219) collected from 13 cities across seven Chinese provinces. Additionally, we examined the relationship between intergroup contact and citizens’ negative outgroup attitudes toward migrant workers and assessed whether these relationships varied by cultural region and stereotypes. The results showed that perceived group threat was associated with citizens’ negative outgroup attitudes toward migrant workers. However, the strength of their relationships decreased significantly in southern cities. The results also showed that contact with migrant workers in general and in the workplace were negatively related to citizens’ negative outgroup attitudes toward them. However, it was noted that contact with migrant workers in general would be less effective when implemented in cities, where citizens hold more negative stereotypes toward migrant workers. The findings suggest that negative outgroup attitudes also exist in internal migration, especially in places with high individualism. Intergroup contact, especially contact in the workplace, is an effective strategy for enhancing group integration.     

Ethnic outgroup aggression: A pilot study on the importance of emotion regulation,nationalism and susceptibility to persuasion

The current pilot study investigated the psychological mechanisms behind ethnic outgroup aggression, a significant outcome of intergroup conflicts. While previous research suggested several impactful predictors of ethnic outgroup aggression, such as intergroup contact and nationalism, no attempt has been made to synthesize all these constructs into a single cross-cultural study. Building on existing research, this pilot study is the first to assess a refined framework where we tested a proposed mediation model according to nationalism and emotion regulation mediate the relationship between intergroup contact, susceptibility to persuasion, and intergroup anxiety on the one hand and ethnic outgroup aggression on the other hand within a cross-cultural sample. An online questionnaire was distributed using convenience sampling among 2482 students with an ethnic majority background living and studying in ten (European) countries. Multigroup path analysis supported the larger part of the hypothesized model where we found that emotion regulation partially mediated the relationship between susceptibility to persuasion as a predictor and aggression as an outcome. As expected, we found that the higher the susceptibility to persuasion, the higher the emotion regulation, and the higher the regulation, the lower the aggression in all countries. Our pilot study provided preliminary evidence that emotion regulation, nationalism and susceptibility to persuasion are critical for the understanding of ethnic outgroup aggression in ethnically diverse societies. Future research needs to be carried out focusing on the development of an intergroup anxiety assessment in which possible gender differences in assessed constructs are considered.     

The role of multicultural and colorblind ideologies and typicality in imagined contact interventions

Recent studies have demonstrated that simply imagining a positive interaction with an outgroup member reduces prejudice, especially if the outgroup member is typical of the whole outgroup. In this research, we tested how a multicultural vs. colorblind mindset might impact the efficacy of imagined contact with a typical or atypical outgroup member. Specifically, we tested the interactive effects between ideologies (multiculturalism vs. colorblindness) and the typicality of the outgroup member (typical vs. atypical) in the imagined encounter. Results revealed that participants exposed to the multicultural ideology who imagined an encounter with an atypical outgroup member expressed fewer positive perceptions (warmth and competence) toward both primary and secondary outgroups compared with respondents exposed to the multicultural ideology who imagined an interaction with a typical outgroup member, and compared with respondents exposed to a colorblind ideology (irrespective of typicality of the outgroup member). The study highlights the importance of considering the interaction between cultural ideologies and typicality during intergroup contact when designing interventions aimed at promoting positive intergroup perceptions.     

Structural and normative conditions for interethnic friendships in multiethnic classrooms

Interethnic friendships between students are important for harmonious intercultural relations at school. Drawing on research on intergroup contact and cultural distance between immigrant and non-immigrant groups, we examined how structural and normative conditions in the classroom context are associated with friendships between early adolescents with and without an immigrant background in ethnically heterogeneous schools. The sample comprised 842 students (M_age = 11.50 years, SD_age = .71; 53% male) attending multiethnic schools in Southwest Germany.Results revealed that perceived positive contact norms in class and perceived cultural distance predicted friendships between immigrant and non-immigrant students in both groups, even when the ethnic composition of the classroom was taken into account. The associations were largely the same for immigrants and non-immigrants. We conclude that interventions to foster interethnic friendships should aim to reduce perceptions of cultural distance and monitor and improve contact norms in intergroup settings.     

Threat to national identity continuity: When affirmation procedures increase the acceptance of Muslim immigrants

European majority group members increasingly perceive threats to national continuity, which in turn leads to defensive reactions, including prejudice against Muslim immigrants. However, according to self-affirmation theory, individuals can respond in a less defensive manner if they have affirmed positive aspects of their self-concept (self-affirmation) or their social identity (group-affirmation). In the present research, we test the potential of affirmation procedures as tools for reducing prejudice towards Muslim immigrants when national continuity is threatened. We examine the impact of personal vs. normative attachment to Christian roots of national identity on the efficacy of affirmation procedures, and the congruence between the threatened and the affirmed domains of the self. Results show that group-affirmation reduced opposition to Muslims’ rights amongst participants personally attached to the idea that national continuity is based on Christian roots. The discussion stresses the importance of non-congruence between the threatened domain of the self and the affirmed domain for the design of affirmation procedures.     

Threat and Prejudice against Syrian Refugees in Canada: Assessing the Moderating Effects of Multiculturalism,Interculturalism, and Assimilation

A survey experiment (N = 529) was used to test the moderating effects of intergroup ideologies (assimilation, multiculturalism, and interculturalism) on the relationship between social dominance orientation (SDO) and expressions of prejudice under conditions of intergroup threat. Moderated multiple regression analyses suggest a multicultural integration frame moderates the relationship between SDO and feelings toward Syrian refugees in Canada when the target outgroup is portrayed as a source of intergroup threat. This moderating effect was unique to the relationship between SDO and feelings toward Syrians and did not extend to other correlates of prejudice including beliefs in zero-sum group competition or a multicultural ideology, nor did it extend to more general measures of prejudice (i.e., attitudes toward immigrants or evaluations of intercultural contact). Findings suggest the prejudice-reducing effects of a multicultural integration narrative affect group evaluations and functions by targeting beliefs in social dominance, rather than zero-sum group competition or ideological support for cultural diversity. The results offer insights into the prejudice-reducing potential for two alternative integration narratives that are institutionalized in Canada.     

Associations between perceived positive and negative parental contact and adolescents’ intergroup contact experiences

This study investigated the association between perceived parental positive and negative contact and adolescents’ own positive and negative contact experiences and tested perspective-taking, intergroup anxiety, outgroup attitudes, and approach behavioral tendencies as potential mediators. A total of 325 7th and 8th Year Turkish students completed questionnaires in classrooms (M_age = 13.46, SD = 0.75). Structural equation models demonstrated that percieved negative parental contact was directly and strongly associated with negative, but not positive, adolescent contact, whereas parental positive contact had a direct positive association with adolescent positive contact. We further found that perceived parental positive contact was related to higher perspective-taking and lower intergroup anxiety which promoted approach behavioral tendencies which was, in turn, related to more positive and less negative contact among adolescents. The study highlights the critical function of parental positive and negative contact on the formation of adolescents’ contact behaviors.     

When imagining intergroup contact mobilizes collective action: The perspective of disadvantaged and advantaged groups

The current studies aimed to reveal the potential role of imagined intergroup contact on collective action tendencies within a context of intergroup conflict. Study 1 (disadvantaged Kurds, N = 80) showed that imagined contact increased collective action tendencies and this effect was mediated by increased perceived discrimination and ethnic identification. Study 2 (advantaged Turks, N = 127) demonstrated that imagined contact also directly increased collective action tendencies, as well as perceived discrimination and relative deprivation among the advantaged group. No significant mediation emerged. At the same time, in line with literature, imagined contact led only the advantaged group members to display more positive outgroup attitudes. Findings suggest that in settings where ingroup identities and conflict are salient, imagined contact may not readily undermine motivation for social change among group members.     

Cultural Identification and Religious Identification Contribute Differentially to the Adaptation of Australian Adolescent Muslims

Australian Muslims are generally perceived as a devalued group in Australia and the public attitudes towards them are generally negative. This context raises questions about belonging and adaptation among Australian adolescent Muslims. The current study investigated how adolescent Muslims relate to their heritage culture, religion, and Australian culture, and which of these three factors is most important to adolescent Muslims’ psychological and socio-cultural adaptation. The study employed a mixed-method design. A total of 321 high school Muslim students (149 males and 172 females) aged between 14 and 18 years completed self-report questionnaires, and a subset sample of 18 students in the same age range, evenly split between males and females, participated in semi-structured interviews. The study revealed a hierarchical pattern of identification among Australian adolescent Muslims, with attachment to their religion being the most important, followed by heritage culture identification and being Australian in third place. Australian adolescent Muslims’ religious identification was perceived overall as more crucial to their socio-cultural and psychological adaptation, than their heritage culture identification or Australian identification. There was an overall modest contribution of Australian identification to adolescent Muslims’ adaptation. This might be connected with the relatively less attachment they show to their Australian identity due maybe to perception of being the target of prejudice, an issue that can be addressed by implementation of prejudice reduction strategies.     

Recent advances in intergroup contact theory

Recent advances in intergroup contact theory and research are reviewed. A meta-analysis with 515 studies and more than 250,000 subjects demonstrates that intergroup contact typically reduces prejudice (mean r = −.21). Allport's original conditions for optimal contact - equal status, common goals, no intergroup competition, and authority sanction - facilitate the effect but are not necessary conditions. There are other positive outcomes of intergroup contact, such as greater trust and forgiveness for past transgressions. These contact effects occur not only for ethnic groups but also for such other groups as homosexuals, the disabled and the mentally ill. Intergroup friendship is especially important. Moreover, these effects typically generalize beyond the immediate outgroup members in the situation to the whole outgroup, other situations, and even to other outgroups not involved in the contact. They also appear to be universal - across nations, genders, and age groups. The major mediators of the effect are basically affective: reduced anxiety and empathy. And even indirect contact reduces prejudice - vicarious contact through the mass media and having a friend who has an outgroup friend. Of course, negative contact occurs - especially when it is non-voluntary and threatening. Criticisms of the theory and policy implications are also discussed.