Intergroup contact research rests on a massive international evidence base
Evidence
For our meta-analysis, we conducted a 5-year search from which we uncovered 515 studies (including 714 independent samples and 1,365 nonindependent tests) that examined relationships between intergroup contact and prejudice. These cases were gathered from the 1940s through the year 2000, and, together, they represent responses from 250,493 individuals in 38 nations. … Close examination of these cases reveals that contact studies have increased steadily in number over the last several decades. Of the 515 studies, only 35 (7%) were conducted before 1960, 55 (11%) during the 1960s, 106 (21%) during the 1970s, 126 (26%) during the 1980s, and 178 of the studies (35%) were conducted between 1990 and 2000. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1679 (
#corroborates, via linked claim)
Stephan (1987) acknowledged that intergroup contact has the potential to reduce prejudice, but he emphasized the complexity involved in the link between intergroup contact and prejudice. For example, characteristics of the contact setting, the groups under study, and the individuals involved may all contribute to enhancing or inhibiting contact’s effects (see also Patchen, 1999; Pettigrew, 1998; Riordan, 1978). Additional reviews have been more critical regarding the potential for contact to promote positive intergroup outcomes. Ford (1986) examined 53 papers (from six journals) on contact. He found support for the contact hypothesis to be, at best, “premature” and that the research presented in these papers was “grossly insufficient in representing the various settings of daily life” (Ford, 1986, p. 256). McClendon (1974) suggested that “contact research has been rather unsophisticated and lacking in rigor” (p. 47) and concluded that this body of work “would not lead [one] to expect a widespread reduction in prejudice” (p. 52). — Thomas F. Pettigrew, Linda R. Tropp, A Meta-Analytic Test of Intergroup…, 22 (
#complicates, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Intergroup contact studies grew steadily across each decade since 1960 — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1680; Early skeptics judged intergroup contact research premature and methodologically weak. — Thomas F. Pettigrew, Linda R. Tropp, A Meta-Analytic Test of Intergroup…, 22; Contact-prejudice studies grew steadily across five decades (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Contact-prejudice research spans 515 studies and a quarter million respondents
#corroborates(0.95) - Over 250,000 people across 38 nations were studied in contact-prejudice research
#corroborates(0.92) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1679 - Early skeptics judged intergroup contact research premature and methodologically weak.
#complicates(0.72) — Thomas F. Pettigrew, Linda R. Tropp, A Meta-Analytic Test of Intergroup…, 22