Contact Experiences Mediate the Relationship Between Five-Factor Model Personality Traits and Ethnic Prejudice

Prejudice has been studied as a function of personality and situation, but there has been little integration of these 2 domains. Our model suggests that people who are especially open and agreeable are more likely to initiate intergroup contact and interpret contact experiences favorably. Such exper...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied social psychology 2005-04, Vol.35 (4), p.667-685
Main Authors: Jackson, Jay W., Poulsen, Joan R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude formation
Ethnicity
Group behaviour
Intergroup relations
Personal contact
Personality
Prejudice
Social psychology
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Summary:Prejudice has been studied as a function of personality and situation, but there has been little integration of these 2 domains. Our model suggests that people who are especially open and agreeable are more likely to initiate intergroup contact and interpret contact experiences favorably. Such experiences lead to positive intergroup attitudes. To test this mediation hypothesis, participants (N= 163) completed a measure of (a) the Big Five personality traits, (b) past contact experiences with African Americans, and (c) pro‐Black/ anti‐Black attitudes. A second study used Asian Americans as the outgroup. In both studies, the model was supported. The results have implications for integrating personality and situational approaches to prejudice and enhancing our understanding of intergroup relations.
ISSN:0021-9029
1559-1816
DOI:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2005.tb02140.x