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Project

Friends, allies, adversaries: Minority group members’ experiences of positive and negative intergroup contact and their interplay.

Against the backdrop of ethnic segregation, inequality, and frequent negative attitudes in many intergroup settings and societies today, positive intergroup contact can be a powerful tool for promoting the inclusion of minority group members. When people have more positive contact with members of other groups, they sustain more positive intergroup orientations and hold less prejudice. Moreover, when (advantaged) majority group members in society have positive contact with disadvantaged or minoritized groups, they support social change towards equality more. Until recently, much of the contact literature has focused on the perspectives of majority group members. As a result, our understanding of minority group perspectives lags behind. Moreover, contact researchers have traditionally focused on positive contact; negative experiences have been examined less and mostly separately. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to advance current understanding of minority perspectives on intergroup contact. Since minority group members may experience contact differently than majority group members and are more frequently exposed to unfriendly or hostile treatment, I investigate how positive and negative contact jointly contribute to minority inclusion in intergroup settings and societies. My studies with multiple immigrant, ethno-racial and indigenous minority groups across Europe and the Americas addresses three more specific aims. Firstly, I examine how minority inclusion is informed by both positive and negative contact experiences and their interplay. I ask when positive contact predicts inclusion regardless of negative contact; and when positive contact effects differ in the presence or absence of negative contact (Aim 1). I find that positive intergroup contact may not generalize to favorable outcomes for minority group members in the presence of negative contact. Secondly, I articulate the multifaceted forms and nature of minority experiences of contact (Aim 2). I ask not only whether contact is ‘positive’, for instance, but also whether minority group members feel they are treated as equals during intergroup contact. I find that taking into account the nature of the contact in the eyes of minority group members is key to explain contact effects. Thirdly, I distinguish between dual pathways towards minority inclusion through intergroup harmony and support for social change as outcomes (Aim 3). Firstly, I find that minority group members’ contact experiences inform aspects of intergroup harmony, such as their intergroup attitudes and future contact orientations. Secondly, their contact experiences also make a difference in terms of minority support for social change, such as collective action or policies that would achieve greater equality.

My dissertation substantially advances current knowledge of minority perspectives on intergroup contact - with important applied implications. Since negative contact casts a long shadow over minority inclusion even in otherwise positive environments, my research highlights the necessity of curbing hostile treatment targeting minority group members if they are to benefit fully from positive contact. Moreover, ‘positive’ contact is not necessarily just positive in the eyes of minority group members themselves, so that interventions to promote high-quality contact between groups should take into account minority views on the nature of contact. Lastly, minority views on the nature of the contact are also decisive when it comes to achieving more equal intergroup relations, since positive contact experiences can either undermine or sustain minority support for social change.

Date:1 Sep 2017 →  1 Mar 2023
Keywords:Intergroup contact, intergroup relations, negative contact, positive contact, Minority groups, Support for social change
Disciplines:Biological and physiological psychology, General psychology, Other psychology and cognitive sciences, Social psychology
Project type:PhD project