We Need to Talk

Americans today are affectively polarized: they dislike and distrust those from the opposing political party more than they did in the past, with damaging consequences for their democracy. This Element tests one strategy for ameliorating such animus: having ordinary Democrats and Republicans come together for cross-party political discussions. Building on intergroup contact theory, the authors argue that such discussions will mitigate partisan animosity. Using an original experiment, they find strong support for this hypothesis – affective polarization falls substantially among subjects who participate in heterogeneous discussion (relative to those who participate in either homogeneous political discussion or an apolitical control). This Element also provides evidence for several of the mechanisms underlying these effects, and shows that they persist for at least one week after the initial experiment. These findings have considerable importance for efforts to ameliorate animus in the mass public, and for understanding American politics more broadly.

Intergroup Contact and Negative Attitudes Towards Immigrants Among Youth in Sweden: Individual and Contextual Factors

Negative attitudes towards out-groups have been of academic interest for many years — and even more so with the increased levels of migration to European countries in recent years. Building on insights from intergroup contact theory, this paper seeks to extend our knowledge of the association between contact and negative attitudes toward immigrants among youth in Sweden. Multiple regression analysis and fixed effects models are used to analyze a large, high-quality dataset on Swedish adolescents based on representative survey information, complemented with extensive registry data and official statistics. Our objective is to measure contact on different levels in order to better understand the importance of these different contact variables’ associations with negative attitudes. The results of the analysis indicate that high-quality contact in the form of friendship is associated with a reduction in negative attitudes among Swedish adolescents, even after controlling for background variables. Superficial forms of contact — measured on the school level — are, on the other hand, associated with an increase in negative attitudes.

Reducing Stigma Among College Students Toward People With Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Trial Grounded on Intergroup Contact Theory

Objective Public stigma has been shown to have multidimensional negative impacts on people with schizophrenia (PWS). A new 1-day intervention grounded on the intergroup contact theory was developed and implemented in the current study to reduce college students’ stigma toward PWS. We hypothesized that intergroup contact could better alleviate the stigmatizing situation compared with absence of direct contact and different levels of contact may have different functions on stigma reduction. Methods To examine the effectiveness of the intervention, a randomized controlled trial was conducted in Hong Kong with 37 college students participating the intervention. Different levels of contact (zero, moderate, and intimate) with PWS were organized in the intervention group while no direct contact with PWS was introduced in the control group. Participants’ knowledge of schizophrenia, stigmatizing attitudes and social distance toward PWS were measured at pre-, post, 1-month and 3-month after the intervention. Results Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant changes in all outcome variables in the intervention group with moderate-to-high effect sizes. The results indicated that different levels of contact with PWS had different functions in stigma reduction. Knowledge session without direct contact contributed most to participants’ knowledge improvement, and moderate and intimate level of contact led to an obvious improvement in participants’ stigmatizing attitudes and social distance changes. Also, psychoeducation and direct contact should be combined to tackle with the 3 components of stigma. Conclusions The current study provided evidence supporting the efficacy of the new intervention based on intergroup contact theory and practical experience for future research design regarding stigma reduction.

Lessons From the Field

Online education has opened new spaces for faculty development and collaboration. On paper, remote faculty are part of their department's community. Physically, however, they are often removed from course development, faculty governance, obtaining professional growth opportunities, and developing professional relationships. Digital teaching models shift the overall faculty culture. However, there are small and simple interventions that can be implemented to help connect remote faculty to students, other faculty members, and their academic departments. Using intergroup contact theory and ideas from the community of practice theory, the cases highlighted show methods of engaging faculty. The cases also explore simple, yet practical, interventions such as virtual and face-to-face faculty meetings as well as “the micro interview,” which aims to help connect remote faculty to their departments.

Challenging and Dismantling Ageist Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors Through Intergenerational Programs

Age stereotypes are complex and multifaceted: individuals can demonstrate and embody numerous and varied positive and negative stereotypes. Therefore, solutions to combat age stereotypes must also be complex and multifaceted. Additionally, both social and physical forms of age segregation are common in our society. This causes fewer and fewer opportunities for younger and older people to interact. Intergroup Contact Theory suggests age stereotypes can be reduced through increased intergenerational contact. One way to encourage contact between younger and older populations is through intergenerational programming. However, there is a lack of literature investigating the effects of intergenerational programs on perceptions of aging. The purpose of this paper was to critically review and explore literature on intergenerational programs to understand how they influence age stereotypes and ageist attitudes. The available literature suggests that intergenerational programs involving young children (ages 4-8), adolescents (ages 11-18), or emerging adults (ages 19-26) interacting with older adults (ages 65+) can significantly reduce age stereotypes towards older adults. Additionally, older adults (ages 65+) negative beliefs and attitudes towards younger people (ages 4-26) can also be deconstructed after participation in intergenerational programs. Intergenerational programs act to break down age barriers and promote connections and understandings between generations. These programs challenge the belief that older and younger people should live and participate in spaces that are separate from one another. Providing opportunities for younger and older people to participate in intergenerational programs is one way to promote respectful relationships and enhance the quality of life and health of all generations.

Predictors of Psychologist Trainees’ Attitudes Toward and Interest in Future Work With Older Adult Clients

By 2035, 25% of the growing older adult population may be in need of mental health services (Novotney, 2018; Vespa, 2018). However, only a small proportion of psychologists currently identify as geropsychologists; thus, the number of geropsychologists will be insufficient to meet these future demands. Identifying variables that explain the variability in current psychology trainees’ expressed interest to engage in future clinical work with older adults is important so that training efforts can be targeted and the number of geropsychologists increased. Based on a multicultural framework and intergroup contact theory, this study examined contact with older adults, empathy, and multicultural competence as predictors of counseling and clinical psychology doctoral trainees’ attitudes toward and interest in working with older adult clients. A sample of 311 doctoral trainees (234 clinical PhD/PsyD, 78 counseling PhD/PsyD) were surveyed online. Structural equation modeling tested the hypothesized interrelationships between study variables. The model showed good fit to the data (χ2(82) = 179.803, p<.001, TLI=.93, CFI=.94, RMSEA=.06, SRMR=.06). Greater contact with older adults was significantly related to more positive attitudes about older adults and greater interest in working with older adults. More positive attitudes was significantly related to greater interest in working with older adults. Empathy was significantly related to more positive attitudes, but to less interest in working with this age group. Increasing the amount of contact experiences with older adults as part of doctoral training programs in counseling/clinical psychology may help to enhance trainees’ positive attitudes and interest in future clinical work with older adults.