Mere knowledge that ingroup peers befriend outgroup members improves intergroup attitudes

Evidence

Recent research shows cross-group friendship (i.e., intimate contact with a member of the outgroup) to be a particularly effective form of intergroup contact (Pettigrew, 1997). Moreover, even indirect contact (i.e., the mere knowledge that other ingroup members have friends in the outgroup; Wright, Aron, McLaughlin-Volpe, & Ropp, 1997), can lead to more positive intergroup attitudes. These findings indicate the importance of the intimacy of contact and its potential to personalize the outgroup member, but they also suggest that despite the importance of a personalized interaction, some level of category salience must also be maintained if positive attitudes are to generalize to other members of the outgroup category. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1816

Categorization

• XREF: Indirect/extended contact is the active-ingredient idea behind school desegregation programs, fictional intergroup contact in media, and ‘bystander effect reversal’ interventions the reader follows in social psychology. — connects to: Cross-group friendships reduce prejudice partly by lowering intergroup anxiety. — Miles Hewstone and Joanne Hughes, Reconciliation in Northern Ireland: the…, 11; Outgroup friendship contact correlates with forgiveness, trust, and perspective-taking across both religious groups — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 83; Intergroup contact most strongly and reliably predicts willingness to mix with the outgroup — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 43 (+2 more)
• CANDY: Knowing that your friends have friends in an outgroup can improve your attitudes toward that group — a light, tweetable piece of social psychology.