When the direct route is blocked: The extended contact pathway to improving intergroup relations

Traditionally, studies of intergroup contact have primarily relied on self-reports, which constitute a valid method for studying intergroup contact, but has limitations, especially if researchers are interested in negative or extended contact. In three studies, we apply social network analyses to generate alternative contact parameters. Studies 1 and 2 examine self-reported and network-based parameters of positive and negative contact using cross-sectional datasets ( N = 291, N = 258), indicating that both methods help explain intergroup relations. Study 3 examines positive and negative direct and extended contact using the previously validated network-based contact parameters in a large-scale, international, and longitudinal dataset ( N = 12,988), demonstrating that positive and negative direct and extended contact all uniquely predict intergroup relations (i.e., intergroup attitudes and future outgroup contact). Findings highlight the value of social network analysis for examining the full complexity of contact including positive and negative forms of direct and extended contact.

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Improving Intergroup Relations with Extended Contact among Young Children: Mediation by Intergroup Empathy and Moderation by Direct Intergroup Contact

Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology ◽

10.1002/casp.2292 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 35-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Loris Vezzali ◽

Miles Hewstone ◽

Dora Capozza ◽

Elena Trifiletti ◽

Gian Antonio Di Bernardo

Keyword(s):

Young Children ◽

Intergroup Relations ◽

Intergroup Contact ◽

Extended Contact

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Rethinking intergroup contact across cultures: Predicting outgroup evaluations using different types of contact, group status, and perceived sociopolitical contexts

Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology ◽

10.1017/prp.2020.9 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yopina G. Pertiwi ◽

Andrew L. Geers ◽

Yueh-Ting Lee

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Intergroup Relations ◽

Direct Contact ◽

Intergroup Contact ◽

The United States ◽

Government Support ◽

Group Status ◽

Cultural Contexts ◽

Extended Contact ◽

Different Types

Abstract Two studies were conducted to examine the relationship between three different types of intergroup contact (i.e., direct contact, extended contact, and online contact) and outgroup evaluation, and the moderating effect of group status and sociopolitical contexts across two cultural contexts. A total of 75 European Americans (majority) and 44 Chinese Americans (minority) participated in Study 1; whereas 61 Javanese (majority) and 72 Chinese Indonesians (minority) participated in Study 2. In both studies, participants completed an outgroup feeling thermometer as well as a set of questionnaires measuring intergroup contact, perceived outgroup political power, perceived outgroup economic power, perceived government support, and perceived quality of the current intergroup relations. Results from the two studies revealed that although contact was beneficial in both cultural contexts, there were notable moderators of the links between contact and outgroup evaluations. Specifically, the value of direct contact was greater for the minority group members in the United States, extended contact only mattered in a specific condition when the perceived government support was taken into account in the United States, and online contact was beneficial across group status in the Indonesian context. Overall, the findings provide evidence of the need to take into account the role of specific sociopolitical relations between the two groups in intergroup relations research.

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Improving intergroup relations through direct, extended and other forms of indirect contact

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations ◽

10.1177/1368430210390555 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 147-160 ◽

Cited By ~ 121

Author(s):

John F. Dovidio ◽

Anja Eller ◽

Miles Hewstone

Keyword(s):

Intergroup Relations ◽

Direct Contact ◽

Personal Contact ◽

Future Research ◽

Intergroup Attitudes ◽

Special Issue ◽

Indirect Contact ◽

Psychological Mechanisms ◽

Extended Contact ◽

Imagined Contact

The benefits of direct, personal contact with members of another group are well established empirically. This Special Issue complements that body of work by demonstrating the effects of various forms of indirect contact on intergroup attitudes and relations. Indirect contact includes (a) extended contact: learning that an ingroup member is friends with an outgroup member, (b) vicarious contact: observing an ingroup member interact with an outgroup member, and (c) imagined contact: imagining oneself interacting with an outgroup member. The effects of indirect contact not only occur independently of direct contact, they often involve distinct psychological mechanisms. The present article briefly reviews work on direct intergroup contact and then discusses recent theoretical and empirical developments in the study of extended contact, vicarious contact, and imagined contact. We consider the similarities and distinctions in the dynamics of these forms of indirect contact and conclude by identifying promising directions for future research.

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Crossing the divide: promoting confidence in contact in a diverse world

Journal of the British Academy ◽

10.5871/jba/008.051 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. 51-59

Author(s):

Rhiannon N. Turner

Keyword(s):

Intergroup Relations ◽

Intergroup Contact ◽

Social Groups ◽

Positive Interactions ◽

Extended Contact ◽

Diverse World ◽

Societal Level ◽

Group Relationships ◽

Imagined Contact ◽

The Many

We are living in an increasingly diverse world, an exciting prospect given that positive interactions between people from different social groups have numerous benefits. Unfortunately, however, people often fail to engage in such interactions. Moreover, there is evidence that prejudice, both at an individual and a societal level, remains prevalent. To navigate the diverse world in which we live and, in turn, promote positive intergroup relations, it is important to develop skills and beliefs that will enable us to engage confidently in cross-group relationships. This article will highlight research which demonstrates some of the many benefits of engaging in intergroup contact, from more positive intergroup relations to broader changes in the way we think. The importance of promoting confidence at engaging in contact and its potential predictors and outcomes will be considered. Finally, interventions—specifically extended contact, imagined contact and online contact or e-contact—will be outlined that can help to make people more confident, and in turn more likely to engage in successful interactions with people from different backgrounds to themselves.

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Role of the exosporial membrane in attachment and germination of C. sporogenes

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100146035 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 51 ◽

pp. 38-39

Author(s):

B.J. Panessa-Warren ◽

G.T. Tortora ◽

J.B. Warren

Keyword(s):

Enzymatic Degradation ◽

Light Transmission ◽

Extended Period ◽

Growth Conditions ◽

Clostridium Sporogenes ◽

Radiation Chemical ◽

Physical Trauma ◽

Extended Contact ◽

Cold Pressure

Some bacteria are capable of forming highly resistant spores when environmental conditions are not adequate for growth. Depending on the genus and species of the bacterium, these endospores are resistant in varying degrees to heat, cold, pressure, enzymatic degradation, ionizing radiation, chemical sterilants,physical trauma and organic solvents. The genus Clostridium, responsible for botulism poisoning, tetanus, gas gangrene and diarrhea in man, produces endospores which are highly resistant. Although some sporocides can kill Clostridial spores, the spores require extended contact with a sporocidal agent to achieve spore death. In most clinical situations, this extended period of treatment is not possible nor practical. This investigation examines Clostridium sporogenes endospores by light, transmission and scanning electron microscopy under various dormant and growth conditions, cataloging each stage in the germination and outgrowth process, and analyzing the role played by the exosporial membrane in the attachment and germination of the spore.

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Reducing Prejudice Through Narratives

Journal of Media Psychology Theories Methods and Applications ◽

10.1027/1864-1105/a000249 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (4) ◽

pp. 185-195 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Emily Moyer-Gusé ◽

Katherine R. Dale ◽

Michelle Ortiz

Keyword(s):

Intergroup Relations ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Intergroup Contact ◽

Contact Hypothesis ◽

Muslim Americans ◽

Intergroup Anxiety ◽

Intergroup Interactions

Abstract. Recent extensions to the contact hypothesis reveal that different forms of contact, such as mediated intergroup contact, can reduce intergroup anxiety and improve attitudes toward the outgroup. This study draws on existing research to further consider the role of identification with an ingroup character within a narrative depicting intergroup contact between Muslim and non-Muslim Americans. Results reveal that identification with the non-Muslim (ingroup) model facilitated liking the Muslim (outgroup) model, which reduced prejudice toward Muslims more generally. Identification with the ingroup model also increased conversational self-efficacy and reduced anxiety about future intergroup interactions – both important aspects of improving intergroup relations.

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Mutuality in Acculturation

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000150 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 221 (4) ◽

pp. 205-213 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Gabriel Horenczyk ◽

Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti ◽

David L. Sam ◽

Paul Vedder

Keyword(s):

Intergroup Relations ◽

Extended Model ◽

Psychological Study ◽

Intergroup Interactions ◽

Mutual Contact ◽

Acculturation Model ◽

Plural Societies ◽

Perceptions And Expectations

This paper focuses on processes and consequences of intergroup interactions in plural societies, focusing primarily on majority-minority mutuality in acculturation orientations. We examine commonalities and differences among conceptualizations and models addressing issues of mutuality. Our review includes the mutual acculturation model ( Berry, 1997 ), the Interactive Acculturation Model (IAM – Bourhis et al., 1997 ), the Concordance Model of Acculturation (CMA – Piontkowski et al., 2002 ); the Relative Acculturation Extended Model (RAEM – Navas et al., 2005 ), and the work on acculturation discrepancies conducted by Horenczyk (1996 , 2000 ). We also describe a trend toward convergence of acculturation research and the socio-psychological study of intergroup relations addressing issues of mutuality in attitudes, perceptions, and expectations. Our review has the potential to enrich the conceptual and methodological toolbox needed for understanding and investigating acculturation in complex modern societies, where majorities and minorities, immigrants and nationals, are engaged in continuous mutual contact and interaction, affecting each other’s acculturative choices and acculturative expectations.

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