Changing Children's Intergroup Attitudes Toward Refugees: Testing Different Models of Extended Contact

Abstract

The present research evaluated an intervention, derived from the "extended contact hypothesis," which aimed to change children's intergroup attitudes toward refugees. The study (n=253) tested 3 models of extended contact among 5- to 11-year-old children: dual identity, common ingroup identity, and decategorization. Children read friendship stories based upon these models featuring in- and outgroup members. Outgroup attitudes were significantly more positive in the extended contact conditions, compared with the control, and this was mediated by "inclusion of other in self." The dual identity intervention was the most effective extended contact model at improving outgroup attitudes. The effect of condition on outgroup intended behavior was moderated by subgroup identity. Implications for theoretically based prejudice-reduction interventions among children are discussed.

Children’s contact with people with disabilities and their attitudes towards disability: a cross-sectional study

“…We used a definition that had been used in previous research with young children. [12] However, the definition focuses on the medical model of disability (i.e., disability as a result of a physical condition) rather than the social model of disability (i.e., people disabled by environmental and social barriers). Ideally, the definition should incorporate the social model of disability to provide a more positive definition.…”

“…The self-completed survey was administered during a scheduled class, either online or using a paper-based version, following a standard set of guidelines. Participants were provided with the following definition of disability adapted from previous research [12]: "There are different types of disability. Sometimes people can be physically disabled which means they have a part of their body which does not work properly.…”

Vicarious Intergroup Contact and the Role of Authorities in Prejudice Reduction

“…In a relatively short period of time, several researchers around the world have demonstrated the efficacy of this effect in different contexts: it promotes tolerance at schools (Liebkind & McAlister, 1999), improves attitudes toward refugees (Cameron, Rutland, Brown, & Douch, 2006), and stigmatized groups Cameron, Rutland, & Brown, in press), reduces prejudice toward Muslims in Germany (Pettigrew, Christ, Wagner, & Jost, 2007), between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland (Paolini, Hewstone, Cairns, & Voci, 2004), and towards immigrants in Spain (Gómez, Méndez, & Tropp, 2007). We are not trying to present vicarious contact as a related or different form of indirect contact than that of extended contact.…”

British Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Understanding and Reasoning About the Religious and Nonreligious Rights of Asylum‐Seeker Youth

“…If this is the case, research needs to be directed at finding ways of preventing age-related increases in negative attitudes toward asylum seekers. In past research conducted in the United Kingdom, reading stories with children about refugees in which the refugee shared a common identity with the participants (e.g., being students together in the same school) reduced outgroup attitudes (Cameron et al, 2006). Whether such a procedure would increase support for asylum-seeking youth's young people's rights remains to be determined.…”

“…Adolescents and emerging young adults in the United Kingdom, like their older adult counterparts (Neuberger, 2005), may consider asylum seekers to be different from themselves and hold negative attitudes toward them. Indeed, recent research suggests that British children (5-to 11-year-olds) view refugee peers more negatively than they do their British peers (Cameron & Rutland, 2008;Cameron, Rutland, Brown, & Douch, 2006). Given the growing concern about the rights of immigrants and refugees, this study investigated British adolescents' judgments and reasoning about nurturance and self-determination rights of asylum-seeking young people.…”