Turner, R. N. and West, Keon. 2012. Behavioural consequences of imagining intergroup contact with stigmatized outgroups. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 15(2), pp. 193-202. ISSN 1368-4302 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

We investigated whether imagining contact with an outgroup member would change intergroup behaviour. Participants who had imagined a positive interaction with an outgroup member or an unspecified stranger were told that they were about to take part in a discussion task with an outgroup member. They were taken to a room and asked to set out two chairs ready for the discussion while the experimenter left, ostensibly to find the other participant. The distance between the two chairs was then measured. Undergraduate students who imagined talking to an obese individual (Experiment 1) or a Muslim individual (Experiment 2) placed the chairs significantly closer than those in the control condition. They also reported more positive feelings and beliefs regarding Muslims. These findings highlight an important practical application of imagined contact: preparing people for successful face-to-face contact.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430211418699
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Psychology > Centre for Cognition, Computation and Culture (CCCC)
Dates:	Date Event March 2012 Published
Item ID:	9235
Date Deposited:	29 Oct 2013 22:02
Last Modified:	04 Jul 2017 13:58
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/9235

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