Intergroup friendship correlates negatively with prejudice even after controlling for other variables

Evidence

In meta-analytic fashion, the European surveys tested the link between intergroup friendship and five different measures of prejudice across seven samples (Pettigrew 1997a). Weighting for sample size, the average correlations ranged between −. and −. without controls. With controls for seven variables and weighting for sample size, the average correlations ranged between −. and −.25. These results are consistent with the preliminary findings of a meta-analysis of the full contact literature now under way (Pettigrew et al 1998). — Thomas F. Pettigrew, Intergroup Contact Theory, 103

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader contact-hypothesis literature on cross-group friendship as the strongest predictor of reduced prejudice.