Modern research shifted contact theory from whether to when and how bias reduces.

Evidence

Whereas Allport focused primarily on the descriptive issue of whether contact can reduce intergroup bias, more recent work has examined the explanatory matters of when and how contact reduces bias. This work has identified the conditions under which contact can most effectively improve attitudes not only to the outgroup members present during the contact situation but also to the outgroup as a whole. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1842

Categorization

• XREF: Mirrors the general maturation pattern from descriptive to mechanistic treatments of a phenomenon — like the shift from documenting to explaining.