A large-scale test of the link between intergroup contact and support for social change

Tabea Hässler; Johannes Ullrich; Michelle Bernardino; Nurit Shnabel; Colette Van Laar; Daniel Valdenegro; Simone Sebben; Linda R. Tropp; Emilio Paolo Visintin; Roberto González; Ruth K. Ditlmann; Dominic Abrams; Hema Preya Selvanathan; Marija Branković; Stephen Wright; Jorina von Zimmermann; Michael Pasek; Anna Lisa Aydin; Iris Žeželj; Adrienne Pereira; Nóra Anna Lantos; Mario Sainz; Andreas Glenz; Hana Oberpfalzerová; Michal Bilewicz; Anna Kende; Olga Kuzawinska; Sabine Otten; Edona Maloku; Masi Noor; Pelin Gul; Jessica Pistella; Roberto Baiocco; Margareta Jelic; Evgeny Osin; Orly Bareket; Dinka Corkalo Biruski; Jonathan E. Cook; Maneeza Dawood; Lisa Droogendyk; Angélica Herrera Loyo; Kaltrina Kelmendi; Luiza Mugnol Ugarte

doi:10.1038/s41562-019-0815-z

A large-scale test of the link between intergroup contact and support for social change

Tabea Hässler^*, Johannes Ullrich, Michelle Bernardino, Nurit Shnabel, Colette Van Laar, Daniel Valdenegro, Simone Sebben, Linda R. Tropp, Emilio Paolo Visintin, Roberto González, Ruth K. Ditlmann, Dominic Abrams, Hema Preya Selvanathan, Marija Branković, Stephen Wright, Jorina von Zimmermann, Michael Pasek, Anna Lisa Aydin, Iris Žeželj, Adrienne PereiraNóra Anna Lantos, Mario Sainz, Andreas Glenz, Hana Oberpfalzerová, Michal Bilewicz, Anna Kende, Olga Kuzawinska, Sabine Otten, Edona Maloku, Masi Noor, Pelin Gul, Jessica Pistella, Roberto Baiocco, Margareta Jelic, Evgeny Osin, Orly Bareket, Dinka Corkalo Biruski, Jonathan E. Cook, Maneeza Dawood, Lisa Droogendyk, Angélica Herrera Loyo, Kaltrina Kelmendi, Luiza Mugnol Ugarte

^*Corresponding author for this work

Departamento de Psicología

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

112 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Guided by the early findings of social scientists, practitioners have long advocated for greater contact between groups to reduce prejudice and increase social cohesion. Recent work, however, suggests that intergroup contact can undermine support for social change towards greater equality, especially among disadvantaged group members. Using a large and heterogeneous dataset (12,997 individuals from 69 countries), we demonstrate that intergroup contact and support for social change towards greater equality are positively associated among members of advantaged groups (ethnic majorities and cis-heterosexuals) but negatively associated among disadvantaged groups (ethnic minorities and sexual and gender minorities). Specification-curve analysis revealed important variation in the size—and at times, direction—of correlations, depending on how contact and support for social change were measured. This allowed us to identify one type of support for change—willingness to work in solidarity— that is positively associated with intergroup contact among both advantaged and disadvantaged group members.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	380-386
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nature Human Behaviour
Volume	4
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0815-z
Publication status	Published - 1 Apr 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This project received direct financial support through the Swiss Bilateral Programme of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation awarded to J.U., R.G., T.H., M.Bernadino and D.V. The Chilean research team was supported by Fondecyt (grant no. 1161371), the Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (grant no. FONDAP 15130009) and the Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Research (grant no. FONDAP 15110006) awarded to R.G. The Dutch part of this research was funded by FWO Odysseus grant no. G.O.E66.14N awarded to C.L. The English part of this research was funded by the ESRC commissioning grant no. 403006662 awarded to D.A. and G.T. S.W. was funded by a grant from the Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada. I.Ž. was funded by the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development (grant no. 179018). The Polish part of this research was funded by the Foundation for Polish Science (TEAM), co-financed by the EU ERDF (‘Language as a Cure’ Project) awarded to M.Bilewicz and O.K. E.O. was supported by the HSE University Basic Research Programme and the Russian Academic Excellence Project ‘5–100’. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. We thank L. Liekefett, D. Kokdemir, D. Indreica, A. Figueiredo, N. Mühlemann and Y. Koc for their additional help with the translation and/or data collection. We also thank J. Ginges and L. Eisner for their insightful comments. Finally, we thank the SoSci Panel, PlanetRomeo, East meets West, Psychologie Heute and all other LGBTIQ+ organizations for distributing our survey.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Social Psychology
Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Behavioral Neuroscience

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10.1038/s41562-019-0815-z

Cite this

Hässler, T., Ullrich, J., Bernardino, M., Shnabel, N., Laar, C. V., Valdenegro, D., Sebben, S., Tropp, L. R., Visintin, E. P., González, R., Ditlmann, R. K., Abrams, D., Selvanathan, H. P., Branković, M., Wright, S., von Zimmermann, J., Pasek, M., Aydin, A. L., Žeželj, I., ... Ugarte, L. M. (2020). A large-scale test of the link between intergroup contact and support for social change. Nature Human Behaviour, 4(4), 380-386. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0815-z

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abstract = "Guided by the early findings of social scientists, practitioners have long advocated for greater contact between groups to reduce prejudice and increase social cohesion. Recent work, however, suggests that intergroup contact can undermine support for social change towards greater equality, especially among disadvantaged group members. Using a large and heterogeneous dataset (12,997 individuals from 69 countries), we demonstrate that intergroup contact and support for social change towards greater equality are positively associated among members of advantaged groups (ethnic majorities and cis-heterosexuals) but negatively associated among disadvantaged groups (ethnic minorities and sexual and gender minorities). Specification-curve analysis revealed important variation in the size—and at times, direction—of correlations, depending on how contact and support for social change were measured. This allowed us to identify one type of support for change—willingness to work in solidarity— that is positively associated with intergroup contact among both advantaged and disadvantaged group members.",

author = "Tabea H{\"a}ssler and Johannes Ullrich and Michelle Bernardino and Nurit Shnabel and Laar, {Colette Van} and Daniel Valdenegro and Simone Sebben and Tropp, {Linda R.} and Visintin, {Emilio Paolo} and Roberto Gonz{\'a}lez and Ditlmann, {Ruth K.} and Dominic Abrams and Selvanathan, {Hema Preya} and Marija Brankovi{\'c} and Stephen Wright and {von Zimmermann}, Jorina and Michael Pasek and Aydin, {Anna Lisa} and Iris {\v Z}e{\v z}elj and Adrienne Pereira and Lantos, {N{\'o}ra Anna} and Mario Sainz and Andreas Glenz and Hana Oberpfalzerov{\'a} and Michal Bilewicz and Anna Kende and Olga Kuzawinska and Sabine Otten and Edona Maloku and Masi Noor and Pelin Gul and Jessica Pistella and Roberto Baiocco and Margareta Jelic and Evgeny Osin and Orly Bareket and Biruski, {Dinka Corkalo} and Cook, {Jonathan E.} and Maneeza Dawood and Lisa Droogendyk and Loyo, {Ang{\'e}lica Herrera} and Kaltrina Kelmendi and Ugarte, {Luiza Mugnol}",

note = "Funding Information: This project received direct financial support through the Swiss Bilateral Programme of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation awarded to J.U., R.G., T.H., M.Bernadino and D.V. The Chilean research team was supported by Fondecyt (grant no. 1161371), the Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (grant no. FONDAP 15130009) and the Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Research (grant no. FONDAP 15110006) awarded to R.G. The Dutch part of this research was funded by FWO Odysseus grant no. G.O.E66.14N awarded to C.L. The English part of this research was funded by the ESRC commissioning grant no. 403006662 awarded to D.A. and G.T. S.W. was funded by a grant from the Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada. I.{\v Z}. was funded by the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development (grant no. 179018). The Polish part of this research was funded by the Foundation for Polish Science (TEAM), co-financed by the EU ERDF ({\textquoteleft}Language as a Cure{\textquoteright} Project) awarded to M.Bilewicz and O.K. E.O. was supported by the HSE University Basic Research Programme and the Russian Academic Excellence Project {\textquoteleft}5–100{\textquoteright}. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. We thank L. Liekefett, D. Kokdemir, D. Indreica, A. Figueiredo, N. M{\"u}hlemann and Y. Koc for their additional help with the translation and/or data collection. We also thank J. Ginges and L. Eisner for their insightful comments. Finally, we thank the SoSci Panel, PlanetRomeo, East meets West, Psychologie Heute and all other LGBTIQ+ organizations for distributing our survey. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

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doi = "10.1038/s41562-019-0815-z",

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Hässler, T, Ullrich, J, Bernardino, M, Shnabel, N, Laar, CV, Valdenegro, D, Sebben, S, Tropp, LR, Visintin, EP, González, R, Ditlmann, RK, Abrams, D, Selvanathan, HP, Branković, M, Wright, S, von Zimmermann, J, Pasek, M, Aydin, AL, Žeželj, I, Pereira, A, Lantos, NA, Sainz, M, Glenz, A, Oberpfalzerová, H, Bilewicz, M, Kende, A, Kuzawinska, O, Otten, S, Maloku, E, Noor, M, Gul, P, Pistella, J, Baiocco, R, Jelic, M, Osin, E, Bareket, O, Biruski, DC, Cook, JE, Dawood, M, Droogendyk, L, Loyo, AH, Kelmendi, K & Ugarte, LM 2020, 'A large-scale test of the link between intergroup contact and support for social change', Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 380-386. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0815-z

TY - JOUR

T1 - A large-scale test of the link between intergroup contact and support for social change

AU - Hässler, Tabea

AU - Ullrich, Johannes

AU - Bernardino, Michelle

AU - Shnabel, Nurit

AU - Laar, Colette Van

AU - Valdenegro, Daniel

AU - Sebben, Simone

AU - Tropp, Linda R.

AU - Visintin, Emilio Paolo

AU - González, Roberto

AU - Ditlmann, Ruth K.

AU - Abrams, Dominic

AU - Selvanathan, Hema Preya

AU - Branković, Marija

AU - Wright, Stephen

AU - von Zimmermann, Jorina

AU - Pasek, Michael

AU - Aydin, Anna Lisa

AU - Žeželj, Iris

AU - Pereira, Adrienne

AU - Lantos, Nóra Anna

AU - Sainz, Mario

AU - Glenz, Andreas

AU - Oberpfalzerová, Hana

AU - Bilewicz, Michal

AU - Kende, Anna

AU - Kuzawinska, Olga

AU - Otten, Sabine

AU - Maloku, Edona

AU - Noor, Masi

AU - Gul, Pelin

AU - Pistella, Jessica

AU - Baiocco, Roberto

AU - Jelic, Margareta

AU - Osin, Evgeny

AU - Bareket, Orly

AU - Biruski, Dinka Corkalo

AU - Cook, Jonathan E.

AU - Dawood, Maneeza

AU - Droogendyk, Lisa

AU - Loyo, Angélica Herrera

AU - Kelmendi, Kaltrina

AU - Ugarte, Luiza Mugnol

N1 - Funding Information: This project received direct financial support through the Swiss Bilateral Programme of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation awarded to J.U., R.G., T.H., M.Bernadino and D.V. The Chilean research team was supported by Fondecyt (grant no. 1161371), the Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (grant no. FONDAP 15130009) and the Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Research (grant no. FONDAP 15110006) awarded to R.G. The Dutch part of this research was funded by FWO Odysseus grant no. G.O.E66.14N awarded to C.L. The English part of this research was funded by the ESRC commissioning grant no. 403006662 awarded to D.A. and G.T. S.W. was funded by a grant from the Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada. I.Ž. was funded by the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development (grant no. 179018). The Polish part of this research was funded by the Foundation for Polish Science (TEAM), co-financed by the EU ERDF (‘Language as a Cure’ Project) awarded to M.Bilewicz and O.K. E.O. was supported by the HSE University Basic Research Programme and the Russian Academic Excellence Project ‘5–100’. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. We thank L. Liekefett, D. Kokdemir, D. Indreica, A. Figueiredo, N. Mühlemann and Y. Koc for their additional help with the translation and/or data collection. We also thank J. Ginges and L. Eisner for their insightful comments. Finally, we thank the SoSci Panel, PlanetRomeo, East meets West, Psychologie Heute and all other LGBTIQ+ organizations for distributing our survey. Publisher Copyright: © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2020/4/1

Y1 - 2020/4/1

N2 - Guided by the early findings of social scientists, practitioners have long advocated for greater contact between groups to reduce prejudice and increase social cohesion. Recent work, however, suggests that intergroup contact can undermine support for social change towards greater equality, especially among disadvantaged group members. Using a large and heterogeneous dataset (12,997 individuals from 69 countries), we demonstrate that intergroup contact and support for social change towards greater equality are positively associated among members of advantaged groups (ethnic majorities and cis-heterosexuals) but negatively associated among disadvantaged groups (ethnic minorities and sexual and gender minorities). Specification-curve analysis revealed important variation in the size—and at times, direction—of correlations, depending on how contact and support for social change were measured. This allowed us to identify one type of support for change—willingness to work in solidarity— that is positively associated with intergroup contact among both advantaged and disadvantaged group members.

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A large-scale test of the link between intergroup contact and support for social change

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