Recent research on intergroup contact has shown how interactions with outgroup members may both decrease and increase motivations to achieve social equality. Similarly, social identity theory has identified the conditions that lead individuals to challenge unequal social systems. Integrating these two major theories, the current study examined the processes underlying the relationship between intergroup contact and participants' willingness to engage in collective action to challenge social inequality. Specifically, we tested sociostructural variables (status legitimacy and stability, and permeability of group boundaries) as potential mediators of contact in a sample of both advantaged (Italian high school students, N = 392) and disadvantaged (immigrant high school students, N = 165) group members. We found that contact was positively associated with motivation for change, an effect mediated by decreased perceived legitimacy of status differences. Moreover, for the advantaged group, membership salience moderated the effects of quality (but not quantity) of contact. Indirect effects were instead not moderated by content of contact (an index considering the extent to which contact was characterized by a focus on differences vs. commonalities between groups). Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed.

The secondary transfer effect (STE) constitutes the generalization of the effects of intergroup contact from the outgroup one has contact with to uninvolved outgroups. In this article, we provide a review of the research on the STE. After presenting evidence on the robustness of the phenomenon, we discuss relevant mediating processes and outline a model that distinguishes them in three categories: mediators referring to the outgroup, mediators referring to the ingroup, and mediators referring to the self. We then present moderators of the STE, and recent evidence of the STE from indirect contact (extended, vicarious, and imagined contact) and from negative contact. By relying on our distinction in three sets of mediators, we suggest directions for future research, largely pointing to the importance of integrating the STE with research on generalized prejudice and of exploring contact as an agent of cognitive liberalization.

Research has shown that vicarious contact, that is observing an interaction between ingroup and outgroup members, can improve intergroup relations. Although vicarious contact has been operationalized in different ways, mainly via story reading or video watching, an experimental comparison of these different strategies is still missing. We conducted a school intervention with the aim of comparing the two most used forms of vicarious contact, namely story reading and video watching. Elementary schoolchildren without disabilities (N = 292) were assigned to one of three different conditions: reading a story; watching a video; control. In the two vicarious contact conditions, participants read or watched the story of a child with disability becoming friends with children without disabilities; in the control condition, participants only completed the dependent measures. Results revealed that, in general, both vicarious contact conditions were equally effective in improving outgroup attitudes and behavioural intentions. In addition, they operated with the same strength through the same underlying processes (IOS, ingroup norms). We discuss theoretical and practical implications in the context of vicarious contact as a prejudice-reduction intervention. Despite that research on intergroup contact has shown that direct, face-to-face contact between groups can reduce prejudice (Hodson & Hewstone, 2013; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006), the implementation of direct contact is often impractical. Research has, however, demonstrated that indirect contact, that is contact that is not face to face, can also help improve intergroup relations. Among the different forms of indirect contact strategies that can improve attitudes, in this research we focus on vicarious contact, that is the observation of interactions between ingroup and outgroup members. This form of contact is distinct from extended contact, that is knowing about positive intergroup interactions

Aims Driven by the literature on pluralistic ignorance, our research investigates fear of appearing racist, being rejected, discriminated, and disinterest in intergroup contact as antecedents of contact and outgroup attitudes, focusing on attributional differences between the majority and minority group perspectives. Methods Questionnaires were distributed in schools in Northern Italy. Participants were 400 Italian and 141 immigrant high‐school students. Results The results showed that the lack of interest in contact was the strongest predictor of contact for the majority group. For the minority group, fear of rejection emerged as the strongest predictor. The majority group attributed the minority to avoid contact most strongly due to the fear that they would be rejected, and the minority group perceived it was due to the majority not being interested in contact. Conclusion Our research contributes to understanding the divergent concerns the majority and minority groups have in relation to intergroup contact and discusses the importance of tackling these concerns.

We conducted an experimental intervention to test the effectiveness of vicarious contact in the relationship between Turkish and Syrian elementary school children; the participants were Turkish children. We used a mixedmethods approach, investigating effects by using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Participants in the experimental condition were asked to read stories on positive contact between Turkish and Syrian children over the course of six weekly sessions. The results revealed that vicarious contact, compared to a control condition where participants did not engage in any activity, led to greater intentions to help outgroup members. Importantly, effects only emerged among children who reported higher initial negative outgroup attitudes. Results from qualitative data revealed that vicarious contact produced richer, more positive, and complex representations of the relationships and friendships between groups. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.