How positive and negative intergroup contact jointly inform minority support for social change: The role of system-fairness beliefs.

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 8105534 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2044-8309 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01446665 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Br J Soc Psychol Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: <2012-> : Chichester : Wiley-Blackwell
Original Publication: Letchworth Herts : British Psychological Society

Minority Groups* ; Social Change*; Humans ; Ethnicity ; Prejudice ; Hypnotics and Sedatives ; Interpersonal Relations

Research suggests that positive contact with majorities may 'sedate' (undermine) minority support for social change, while negative contact may promote it. However, most studies to date have examined both forms of contact separately, which may not give an accurate picture of their effects. This study examines the joint effects and interplay of positive and negative contact on minority support for social change, and the role of system-fairness beliefs across seven ethnic minority samples in six countries (N = 790). Multigroup Structural Equation Modelling showed that negative contact predicted higher minority support for social change. Positive contact predicted both less support for social change indirectly via enhanced system-fairness beliefs, and more support for social change directly. Except for one national context, the total effects of positive contact were either non-significant or significantly positive. This shows that increased system-fairness beliefs can explain sedative effects of positive contact, and that positive contact may also promote support for social change. We conclude that sedative effects of positive contact may be overestimated by not considering negative contact.
(© 2023 British Psychological Society.)

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IZSEZ0 192941 Switzerland SNSF_ Swiss National Science Foundation

Keywords: minority group members; negative intergroup contact; positive intergroup contact; support for social change; system‐justification

0 (Hypnotics and Sedatives)

Date Created: 20231211 Date Completed: 20240411 Latest Revision: 20240411

20240411

10.1111/bjso.12705

38078659