Intergroup contact most strongly and reliably predicts willingness to mix with the outgroup

Evidence

As can be seen, there were two significant predictors of attitude toward mixing with the outgroup—class and, especially, contact. Both coefficients were positive, indicating that higher social class (β = .14) and more contact with Protestants (β = .30) were positively associated with a more positive attitude toward mixing. Overall, 15% of the variance in the criterion variable was explained by the simultaneous regression of attitudes toward mixing on all the predictors. The model also shows that contact was predicted only by education (β = .16), and past integrated schooling was predicted positively by social class (β = .21) and negatively by education (β = –.12). To summarize this model, we can conclude that the measure of contact appears to be the central and most reliable predictor. Contact predicts attitude toward mixing with the outgroup, and is in turn predicted by education. — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 43

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the reader’s core research question: contact quantity/quality as the very mechanism that could reverse outgroup hostility, echoing Allport’s contact hypothesis and its role in the glorification-reversal question. — connects to: Cross-group friendship is the most effective intergroup contact form for reconciliation. — Miles Hewstone and Joanne Hughes, Reconciliation in Northern Ireland: the…, 5; Mere knowledge that ingroup peers befriend outgroup members improves intergroup attitudes — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 1816; Cross-group friendship shapes positive intergroup attitudes more than casual contact does. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 556 (+17 more)
• QUESTION: The focus here is attitude toward mixing, not forgiveness itself; worth noting whether the later models show contact similarly driving forgiveness as the reversal mechanism.

Broader Connections

• Cross-group friendship shapes positive intergroup attitudes more than casual contact does. #corroborates (0.90) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 556
• Intergroup contact reduces prejudice more strongly than prejudice drives avoidance of contact #corroborates (0.90) — Thomas F. Pettigrew, Linda R. Tropp, A Meta-Analytic Test of Intergroup…, 37
• Observing ingroup friends interact with outgroups reduces one’s future intergroup anxiety #corroborates (0.90) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1834
• Mere knowledge that ingroup peers befriend outgroup members improves intergroup attitudes #expands (0.85) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1816
• Structured equal-status intergroup contact reduces prejudice when institutionally supported #qualifies (0.85) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 129
• Optimal intergroup contact needs both interpersonal disclosure and maintained category salience #expands (0.85)
• Superficial intergroup contact reinforces rather than reduces stereotypes #contradicts (0.85)
• Optimal intergroup contact requires equal status, shared goals, and community sanction #expands (0.85) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 540
• Retaining group salience optimizes contact more than eliminating categories does #expands (0.85) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1818
• Intergroup attitude structures vary with the relationship’s contact patterns #qualifies (0.80) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 662
• Contact with one out-group improves attitudes toward unrelated out-groups #expands (0.80) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 570
• Ignoring group membership during contact does not improve intergroup attitudes #contradicts (0.80) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1817
• A common group identity mediates contact’s bias reduction rather than merely aiding it #expands (0.80) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 572
• Perceived outgroup threats damage intergroup relations even without hostility #qualifies (0.80) — Walter G. Stephan, Oscar Ybarra, Kimberly Rios Morrison, Intergroup Threat Theory, 38
• Intergroup contact can reduce uncritical preference for one’s own group. #expands (0.80) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 563