The Influence of Imagined Contact and Baseball Team Identification: South Koreans' Prejudice toward Japanese Individuals

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of imagined contact within the sport setting as a way of reducing Korean's intergroup anxiety and prejudice expressed toward Japanese individuals. As an important extension of the imagined contact work, the authors also considered the poten...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of sport management 2016-10, Vol.17 (4), p.561-575
Main Authors: Kang, Sungeun, Cunningham, George B
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of imagined contact within the sport setting as a way of reducing Korean's intergroup anxiety and prejudice expressed toward Japanese individuals. As an important extension of the imagined contact work, the authors also considered the potential moderating effects of team identification. A total of 210 Korean undergraduate students took part in the experiment. Participants in the experimental group (n = 98) were asked to have imagined a pleasant contact with a Japanese pitcher for two minutes. Those in the control group (n = 112) were asked to have imagined a positive contact with a stranger for two minutes. Results indicate that even highly identified fans do not decrease their anxiety level towards Japanese individual after the mental simulation. In contrast, lowly identified fans experienced a decrease in their intergroup anxiety level. Finally, intergroup anxiety was associated with prejudice, particularly for highly identified fans. The results are discussed in terms of practical and theoretical implications.
ISSN:1546-234X