Effective intergroup contact requires seven preconditions in political contexts.
Evidence
Much research suggests that four conditions are essential for contact to effectively reduce outgroup animosity: (1) equal group status within the contact situation, (2) common goals, (3) intergroup cooperation and (4) the support of authorities, law or custom113–115. A fifth condition, having the potential for friendship with an outgroup member, has also yielded positive results116. Synthesizing some of the classic work on contact theory with recent insights from depolarization interventions, we propose two additional conditions that may lead to greater success in the political context: (6) including training in dialogue skills18,117–119 and (7) structuring contact interventions to highlight common identities, behaviours, preferences and more27,120. — Rachel Hartman et al., Interventions to Reduce Partisan…, 45
Categorization
- DEFINE: Clean enumeration of Allport’s contact conditions extended with two new political-context conditions - a useful framework reference.
- XREF: connects to: Community-based common identities may last where national identity priming fades. — Rachel Hartman et al., Interventions to Reduce Partisan…, 42; Unprepared intergroup contact can backfire and worsen polarization.; Personalized intergroup contact reduces prejudice by making category boundaries less meaningful. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2494 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Intergroup contact reduces prejudice only under four specific optimal conditions.
#contradicts(0.85) — Thomas F. Pettigrew, Linda R. Tropp, A Meta-Analytic Test of Intergroup…, 17 - Equal status and cooperation are critical conditions for contact to reduce prejudice
#qualifies(0.82) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2002 - Personalized intergroup contact reduces prejudice by making category boundaries less meaningful.
#qualifies(0.75) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2494