Cross‐group friendships and outgroup attitudes among Turkish–Kurdish ethnic groups: does perceived interethnic conflict moderate the friendship‐attitude link?

Abstract

We investigated associations between cross‐group friendships, perceived interethnic conflict, and outgroup attitudes in the context of intractable Turkish–Kurdish conflict in Turkey. Measures of cross‐group friendship quantity, perceived conflict, outgroup attitudes, multiculturalism, and outgroup responsibility for conflict were completed by Turkish (N = 320) and Kurdish (N = 153) participants (Mage = 21, 156 males, 317 females). Both cross‐group friendships and perceived conflict were related to outcome variables. While cross‐group friendships were beneficial for both groups’ outgroup attitudes when perceived conflict was lower; when perceived conflict level was higher, positive associations between friendships and attitudes became non‐significant for the Turkish group and negative for the Kurdish group. Implications of the findings for the intergroup contact theory have been discussed.

Imagined contact in high conflict settings: The role of ethnic group identification and the perspective of minority group members

“…Previous research has also shown that contact effects may not be always as positive as expected especially among ethnic minorities in a high conflict area (Bagci & Çelebi, 2017a). In line with this finding, Stathi and Crisp (2008) found that the imagined contact strategy failed to lead to higher projection of positive trait to the outgroup among the minority group.…”

“…Previous research has suggested that imagined contact may be a useful tool to improve intergroup attitudes in settings where direct contact is less likely to occur (Husnu & Crisp, 2010a). Especially, in the Turkish-Kurdish setting where both minority and majority group members perceive a high level of intergroup conflict (Bagci & Çelebi, 2017a), imagining a positive intergroup encounter may work as a first step of a more direct contact intervention (Crisp & Turner, 2009). In fact, it is now known that previous positive contact experiences may protect group members from the detrimental effects of present negative contact experiences in high conflict settings (Paolini, Harwood, Rubin, Husnu, Joyce, & Hewstone, 2014).…”

“…We also need to take into account possible variations in the perception of perceived interethnic conflict in Turkey. For example, Bagci and Çelebi (2017a) found that direct cross-group friendships among Kurdish ethnic minorities had a negative association with outgroup attitudes when perceived interethnic conflict was high. Future imagined contact research, especially the ones applied in high conflict settings, may investigate perceived interethnic conflict as a possible moderator on the effectiveness of the strategy.…”

“…Finally, we measured perceived attitudes of the majority group by three items adapted from previously used scales (e.g., Bagci & Çelebi, 2017a). The items were: "I think Turkish people are friendly to Kurdish people", "I think Turkish people like to spend time with Kurdish people", and "I think Turkish people are nice to Kurdish people" (a 5 0.89).…”

“…Other research has focused on intergroup contact effects and showed that interethnic contact led Turkish participants to support minority rights to a greater extent (Çelebi, Verkuyten, & Smyrnioti, 2016). Bagci and Çelebi (2017a) demonstrated that cross-group friendships between Turkish and Kurdish group members were associated with positive outgroup attitudes and support for multiculturalism among both group members, but this association depended on the perceived level of intergroup conflict. In summary, this relatively new research literature indicates that contact between Turkish-Kurdish group members is an essential part of intergroup relationships in Turkey and there is indeed an urgent need to concentrate on effective contact-inducing strategies to promote intergroup harmony between the two groups.…”