Applying imagined contact to improve physiological responses in anticipation of intergroup interactions and the perceived quality of these interactions.

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West, Keon; Turner, Rhiannon and Levita, Liat. 2015. Applying imagined contact to improve physiological responses in anticipation of intergroup interactions and the perceived quality of these interactions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 45(8), 425 - 436. ISSN 0021-9029 [Article]

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Official URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jasp.12...

Abstract or Description

This experiment (N = 49) is the first to show that imagined contact can buffer anticipatory physiological responses to future interactions, and improve the quality of these interactions. Participants imagined a positive interaction with a person with schizophrenia, or in a control condition, a person who did not have schizophrenia. They then participated in an interaction with a confederate whom they believed had schizophrenia. Participants in the imagined contact condition reported more positive attitudes and less avoidance of people with schizophrenia, displayed smaller anticipatory physiological responses, specifically smaller changes in interbeat interval and skin conductance responses, and had a more positive interaction as rated by the confederate. These findings support applying imagined contact to improve the treatment of people with severe mental health disorders.

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Article

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https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12309