scholarly journals Can Social Contact Reduce Prejudice and Discrimination? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 112 (3) ◽  
pp. 654-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEXANDRA SCACCO ◽  
SHANA S. WARREN
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Urban Youth ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Randomized Field Experiment ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Prejudice And Discrimination ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Skill Building ◽  
Vocational Training Program

Can positive social contact between members of antagonistic groups reduce prejudice and discrimination? Despite extensive research on social contact, observational studies are difficult to interpret because prejudiced people may select out of contact with out-group members. We overcome this problem by conducting an education-based, randomized field experiment—the Urban Youth Vocational Training program (UYVT)—with 849 randomly sampled Christian and Muslim young men in riot-prone Kaduna, Nigeria. After sixteen weeks of positive intergroup social contact, we find no changes in prejudice, but heterogeneous-class subjects discriminate significantly less against out-group members than subjects in homogeneous classes. We trace this finding to increased discrimination by homogeneous-class subjects compared to non-UYVT study participants, and we highlight potentially negative consequences of in-group social contact. By focusing on skill-building instead of peace messaging, our intervention minimizes reporting bias and offers strong experimental evidence that intergroup social contact can alter behavior in constructive ways, even amid violent conflict.

scholarly journals Social Status Affects the Causal Relationship Between Prejudice, Discrimination, Personality, Subjective Well-Being, and Self-Esteem

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Valdece Sousa Bastos ◽  
Víthor Rosa Franco ◽  
Annalisa Myer
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
High Status ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Status Group ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Prejudice And Discrimination

People who repeatedly experience prejudice and discrimination are at greater risk for developing several negative consequences, such as low self-esteem (SE). However, scholars have not explored the role of social status as an important variable for this relationship, and its consequences. The current study is aimed at investigating the role of status on the relationship between self-perceived prejudice and discrimination (SPPD), subjective well-being (SWB), SE, and the Big-Five. In a Brazilian sample (N = 1,130), we found that social status affects the network structure among low- and high-status group members. We also found that not all causal relations are equal between groups, such that the influence of SPPD, SE, and neuroticism is different depending on participants’ social status. Our results demonstrate the importance of accounting for social status when crafting psychological interventions to mitigate the negative effects of prejudice and discrimination and dismantle systems of oppression for low-status group members.

scholarly journals A Review on Intergroup Imagined Contact Theory and Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (17) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Contact Theory ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Indirect Contact ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Psychological Difficulties ◽  
Review Study ◽  
Prejudice And Discrimination ◽  
Imagined Contact

Prejudice, stereotype and discrimination cause the exposed group members to experience many physical and psychological difficulties. Various studies have been conducted and theories have been developed in order to reduce the negative consequences of prejudice and discrimination and to develop more positive intergroup attitudes and behaviors. One of the theories developed in this context is the intergroup imagined contact theory. Imagined contact is a type of indirect contact that contributes to the reduction of prejudices through a positive mental communication between group members. Number of studies carried out in Turkey about imagined contact theory is quite limited. Therefore, the purpose of the current review study is to present the imagined contact theory and some research findings conducted within the framework of this theory, to make suggestions based on the presented research findings, and to provide a comprehensive Turkish resource for students and researchers who want to have information about imagined contact. For this purpose, firstly, brief information about the concepts of prejudice, stereotype and discrimination and the theories that imagined contact theory based on were presented. Then, imagined contact theory, methodological modifications of imagined contact settings, and related research findings carried out worldwide and in Turkey were reviewed separately. Finally, some opinions and suggestions related to the theory and future directions were presented. Keywords Prejudice, intergroup contact theories, imagined contact theory

Not Registered? Please Sign-up First: A Randomized Field Experiment on the Ex-Ante Registration Request

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ni Huang ◽  
Probal Mojumder ◽  
Tianshu Sun ◽  
Jinchi Lv ◽  
Joseph Golden
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Randomized Field Experiment ◽  
Ex Ante

scholarly journals About the Acceptance of Wearing Face Masks in Times of a Pandemic

i-Perception ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 204166952110211
Author(s):  
Claus-Christian Carbon
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Study Participants

Wearing face masks in times of COVID-19 is one of the essential keystones for effectively decreasing the rate of new infections and thus for mitigating the negative consequences for individuals as well as for society. Acceptance of wearing masks is still low in many countries, making it extremely difficult to keep the pandemic at bay. In an experimental study, participants ( N = 88) had to assess how strange they felt when wearing a face mask while being exposed to displays of groups of varying numbers of mask wearers. Three different types of face masks were shown: simple homemade masks, FFP2 masks, and loop scarfs. The higher the frequency of people wearing masks in the displayed social group, the less strange the participants felt about themselves, an essential precondition for accepting wearing masks. This effect of a descriptive social norm was particularly effective when people saw others wearing less intrusive masks, here, simple homemade masks.

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