Similarity-based selection of contact partners reduces group salience and weakens generalization.

Evidence

This poses a problem. Typical members of real groups are different in many ways, but people with similar interests and status seek each other out—the similarity principle (Byrne 1971). People from different groups who have contact, then, are more likely to share similar interests and values. And outgroup members with similar interests to the ingroup often will not typify their group or make group membership salient. Hence, Brewer & Miller (1984) advocate a decategorization strategy. The opposite of salient categorization, it holds that intergroup contact is most effective when group saliency is low. — Thomas F. Pettigrew, Intergroup Contact Theory, 66

Categorization

• DEFINE: Names and defines the decategorization strategy as the inverse of salient categorization.