The Irony of Harmony: Intergroup Contact Can Produce False Expectations for Equality

Positive intergroup contact has been a guiding framework for research on reducing intergroup tension and for interventions aimed at that goal. We propose that beyond improving attitudes toward the out-group, positive contact affects disadvantaged-group members' perceptions of intergroup inequal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological science 2009-01, Vol.20 (1), p.114-121
Main Authors: Saguy, Tamar, Tausch, Nicole, Dovidio, John F., Pratto, Felicia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Arab people
Arabs - psychology
Attitude
Attitudes
Collective action
Culture
Disadvantaged
Egalitarianism
Emotional harmony
Equality
Experiments
Fairness
Female
Group dynamics
Group identity
Humans
Inequality
Intergroup contact
Intergroup relations
Irony
Jewish people
Jews - psychology
Male
Minority groups
Minority Groups - psychology
Out-groups
Perception
Perceptions
Personality psychology
Power
Power (Psychology)
Prejudice
Prejudices
Psychological attitudes
Reality Testing
Social Behavior
Social Change
Social contact
Social Distance
Social Identification
Social inequality
Social Perception
Social psychology
Young Adult
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Summary:Positive intergroup contact has been a guiding framework for research on reducing intergroup tension and for interventions aimed at that goal. We propose that beyond improving attitudes toward the out-group, positive contact affects disadvantaged-group members' perceptions of intergroup inequality in ways that can undermine their support for social change toward equality. In Study 1, participants were assigned to either high- or low-power experimental groups and then brought together to discuss either commonalities between the groups or inter-group differences. Commonality-focused contact, relative to difference-focused contact, produced heightened expectations for fair (i.e., egalitarian) out-group behavior among members of disadvantaged groups. These expectations, however, proved unrealistic when compared against the actions of members of the advantaged groups. Participants in Study 2 were Israeli Arabs (a disadvantaged minority) who reported the amount of positive contact they experienced with Jews. More positive intergroup contact was associated with increased perceptions of Jews as fair, which in turn predicted decreased support for social change. Implications for social change are considered.
ISSN:0956-7976
1467-9280
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02261.x