Intergroup contact’s usefulness depends on attitude change generalizing beyond the immediate situation.

Evidence

Critics generally concede that intergroup contact often leads to improved attitudes among the participants. But the critical question is whether these altered attitudes generalize beyond the immediate situation to new situations, to the entire outgroup, or even to outgroups not involved in the contact (Pettigrew, 1997, 1998). Such generalization is crucial to the useful application of contact theory. If the changes wrought by contact are limited to the particular situation and the immediate outgroup participants, the practical value of the theory is obviously severely restricted. — Thomas F. Pettigrew, Linda R. Tropp, A Meta-Analytic Test of Intergroup…, 51

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies what ‘generalization’ means as a distinct validity test within contact theory.
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Unprepared intergroup contact can backfire and worsen polarization.; Contact studies vary in how they generalize findings beyond immediate settings. — Thomas F. Pettigrew, Linda R. Tropp, A Meta-Analytic Test of Intergroup…, 78

Related

• Contact studies vary in how they generalize findings beyond immediate settings. (similarity 0.91)
• Contact’s prejudice reduction must generalize beyond the immediate situation to matter. (similarity 0.91)
• High group salience in studies explains contact’s broad generalization effects (similarity 0.86)
• Contact effects persist beyond the immediate contact situation. (similarity 0.86)
• Face-to-face contact with out-group individuals can improve attitudes toward the whole group. (similarity 0.86)
• Intergroup contact research has expanded beyond prejudice to test trust, forgiveness, and ingroup perception. (similarity 0.85)
• Theorists now seek what is necessary, not just helpful, for contact success (similarity 0.84)
• Early skeptics judged intergroup contact research premature and methodologically weak. (similarity 0.82)
• Intergroup contact is an established general mechanism for reducing prejudice across group types. (similarity 0.82)
• Intergroup contact reduces prejudice even beyond the groups involved. (similarity 0.81)
• No meta-analysis of intergroup contact research existed before this study. (similarity 0.81)
• Individuating contact can fail to generalize to other group members (similarity 0.80)
• Personalized friendships with outgroup members may fail to change attitudes toward the whole group. (similarity 0.79)
• Intergroup contact reduces prejudice across outgroups, and Allport’s conditions are helpful but not essential. (similarity 0.79)
• Individualized contact fails to generalize positive attitudes beyond the specific person (similarity 0.79)