Search

This article reexamines the so-called "wallpaper effect" of intergroup contact, which contends that for minority group members living in areas more densely populated by majority group members, intergroup contact fails to reduce prejudice. We tested this claim in five studies, using data from five countries, two types of contexts, a range of measures, and involving different minority versus majority groups. Using multilevel cross-level interaction models, we considered whether effects of contact on outgroup attitudes were moderated by relative outgroup size. Results failed to replicate the previously reported findings, revealing, by and large, nonsignificant cross-level moderation effects; instead, we witnessed consistent positive contact effects on attitudes. Findings are discussed against the backdrop of recent research on the consequences of diversity, as well as context-based considerations regarding minority versus majority constellations. We also discuss some exceptions to our findings that emerged for some respondent groups and contexts across the five studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance the prejudice-reducing effects of imagined contact we investigated a novel form of imagined contact (“balanced similarity”) which emphasized both similarities and differences between the ingroup(er) and the outgroup(er). Experiment 1 compared balanced similarity with conditions inducing only differences or only similarities. “Balanced similarity” led to more positive outgroup attitudes; its differences with the “high similarity” condition were mediated by reduced distinctiveness threat, whereas its differences with the “low” similarity condition were mediated by higher perceived intergroup similarity. Experiment 2 compared the “balanced similarity” imagined contact scenario with the “standard” (positive) imagined contact scenario (Crisp, Stathi, Turner, & Husnu, 2008), and found that both conditions promoted equally favourable attitudes that were significantly more positive than in the control condition. However, only the “balanced similarity” imagined contact condition differed from the control condition on intergroup anxiety and contact self-efficacy. The “balanced similarity” condition also had an indirect effect (via self-efficacy) on positive action tendencies towards the outgroup. We discuss the utility of “balanced similarity” imagined contact, especially where contact is limited and conflict is present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]