British Journal of Social Psychology
Volume 58, Issue 3, 2019, Pages 668-690

Meeting a nice asylum seeker: Intergroup contact changes stereotype content perceptions and associated emotional prejudices, and encourages solidarity-based collective action intentions (Article)

Kotzur P.F.* , Schäfer S.J. , Wagner U.
  • a Department of Psychology, Philipps-University, Marburg, Germany, Institute for Psychology, University of Osnabrück, Germany
  • b Department of Psychology, Philipps-University, Marburg, Germany, Department of Psychology, University of Hagen, Germany
  • c Department of Psychology, Philipps-University, Marburg, Germany

Abstract

Intergroup contact can improve majority members’ perception of minorities. Integrating the intergroup contact hypothesis with the stereotype content model and BIAS-Map, we hypothesized that positive intergroup contact improves German majority members’ evaluations of asylum seekers on the warmth and competence dimensions. Using cross-sectional survey data and structural equation modelling, we found support for this hypothesis (Study 1a, N = 182). Warmth and competence perceptions, in turn, predicted specific intergroup emotions (Study 1b, N = 255). A causal effect of intergroup contact on changes in stereotype content, emotions, and solidarity-based collective action intentions as an important facilitative behavioural intention debated in the intergroup contact literature is established with experimental data (Study 2, N = 74). Participants interacting with an asylum seeker rated asylum seekers higher on warmth and specific intergroup emotions and were more supportive of solidarity-based collective actions in favour of asylum seekers. Our study demonstrates that contact has differential effects on cognitive, affective, and behavioural components of prejudice towards asylum seekers that are systematically linked. © 2018 The British Psychological Society

Author Keywords

stereotypes stereotype content model BIAS-Map intergroup emotions Intergroup contact Collective action

Index Keywords

Prejudice male perception female structural equation modeling major clinical study heat stereotypy Article asylum seeker human adult human experiment

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85057994202&doi=10.1111%2fbjso.12304&partnerID=40&md5=4abd7ac05d089649c7926ea5d7822125

DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12304
ISSN: 01446665
Cited by: 1
Original Language: English