The Extended Contact Effect: Knowledge of Cross-Group Friendships and Prejudice

The extended contact hypothesis proposes that knowledge that an in-group member has a close relationship with an out-group member can lead to more positive intergroup attitudes. Proposed mechanisms are the in-group or out-group member serving as positive exemplars and the inclusion of the out-group...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality and social psychology 1997-07, Vol.73 (1), p.73-90
Main Authors: Wright, Stephen C, Aron, Arthur, McLaughlin-Volpe, Tracy, Ropp, Stacy A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult Attitudes
Biological and medical sciences
Factors
Female
Friendship
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Groups
Human
Ingroup Outgroup
Intergroup contact
Intergroup Relations
Male
Prejudice
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Social Contact
Social interactions. Communication. Group processes
Social Perception
Social psychology
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Summary:The extended contact hypothesis proposes that knowledge that an in-group member has a close relationship with an out-group member can lead to more positive intergroup attitudes. Proposed mechanisms are the in-group or out-group member serving as positive exemplars and the inclusion of the out-group member's group membership in the self. In Studies 1 and 2, respondents knowing an in-group member with an out-group friend had less negative attitudes toward that out-group, even controlling for dispositional variables and direct out-group friendships. Study 3, with constructed intergroup-conflict situations (on the robbers cave model), found reduced negative out-group attitudes after participants learned of cross-group friendships. Study 4, a minimal group experiment, showed less negative out-group attitudes for participants observing an apparent in-group-out-group friendship.
ISSN:0022-3514
1939-1315
DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.73.1.73