Harnessing Digital Media in the Fight Against Prejudice: Social Contact and Exposure to Digital Media Solutions

Lissitsa, Sabina; Kushnirovich, Nonna

doi:10.1177/1077699019837938

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 82 publications

(85 reference statements)

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“…It is also significant in places where local opinion leaders, such as clerics, and traditional media, such as radio, are the primary sources of information. Following the central argument that interacting with people of different faiths reduces biases and prejudices, several studies have shown that interfaith contacts on social media significantly promote positive interfaith interaction (Lissitsa, 2016; Lissitsa & Kushnirovich, 2019; Schumann et al, 2012; Schwab et al, 2018; White et al, 2015). However, at the same time, this could also be partly due to exposure to information about other religions and their practices through interfaith contacts on social media.…”

Section: Intergroup Contact and Social Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

From Silicon to Himalayan Valley(s): Tales of Serendipitous Exposure and Interfaith Contact on Social Media

Masood

Škorić

2023

Social Media + Society

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This study compares two adjacent remote valleys in the Himalayas of Pakistan, which only differ in terms of the availability of internet access. Using a unique methodological approach, combining a natural experiment design and an interview method, we explore the role of serendipitous exposure and interfaith contact on social media in relation to the religious majority’s knowledge about religious minorities and willingness to engage with them. We find that those who have internet access and use social media show more knowledge about and engagement with religious minorities than those who do not. Serendipitous exposure largely explains the differences—social media users do not intentionally seek information about religious minorities but still serendipitously come across it while using social media for other activities. Moreover, social media users tend to have extensive networks of social ties (i.e., Facebook friends), which frequently cut across religious lines and likely act as the main facilitators of serendipity. We argue that mediated serendipity and increased interfaith contact promoted by social media platforms are essential contributors to democratic citizenship in present-day Pakistan, where religious minorities represent a small segment of the population and often face discrimination and persecution.

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Section: Intergroup Contact and Social Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

From Silicon to Himalayan Valley(s): Tales of Serendipitous Exposure and Interfaith Contact on Social Media

Masood

Škorić

2023

Social Media + Society

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“…More precisely, previous research highlights that interacting with outgroup members through CMC, playing online video games together, or viewing outgroup members' social media profiles is moderately related to enhanced outgroup attitudes (d = .36;Imperato et al, 2021) and lower biases (e.g., Adachi et al, 2015;Andrews et al, 2018;Stiff & Kedra, 2020;White et al, 2014), including subtle prejudice (Lissitsa & Kushnirovich, 2019) 1 . Engaging in direct online intergroup contact also increases outgroup knowledge (White & Abu-Rayya, 2012), reduces intergroup anxiety (Abu-Rayya, 2017; White et al, 2019) and dehumanisation (Bruneau et al, 2020), predicts stronger trust and perceived similarity (Römpke et al, 2019) as well as lower stigmatisation (Boccanfuso et al, 2021) (see White et al, 2020, for a narrative review).…”

Section: Online Intergroup Contact: Empirical Evidence In Research Se...mentioning

confidence: 99%

What can be achieved with online intergroup contact interventions? Assessing long‐term attitude, knowledge, and behaviour change

Schumann

Moore

2022

Anal Soc Iss & Public Policy

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Previous studies demonstrated that when individuals interact with outgroup members on social media, in online games, or through (a)synchronous chats, prejudice is reduced. Evaluations of real-world interventions, however, did not consistently confirm the positive impact of online intergroup contact. We advance the literature and investigate whether participation in a global online intergroup contact program predicts lower prejudice as well as increased outgroup knowledge, confidence, and tendencies to take collective action on behalf of outgroup members. We also assess if the quantity of online intergroup contact moderates developments of the outcome measures over time. Applying a pre-post design, participants (N = 547) completed surveys before and after the intervention. One follow-up survey was, depending on the program cohort, administered with a delay of six, 12, and 18 months. Throughout the intervention, prejudice decreased, and collective action tendencies, outgroup knowledge, as well as confidence in one's ability to communicate in intercultural environments increased. These trends were maintained for up to 18 months after programThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

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“…The interrelations between the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of contact also matter. Frequent intergroup contact can be associated with better perceptions and lower antagonism between groups, making contact more pleasant for both sides (Wagner & Hewstone, 2012;Lissitsa & Kushnirovich, 2019;Pettigrew & Tropp, 2013a). Bernardo et al (2021) found a positive correlation between frequency of intergroup contact and its quality.…”

Section: Contact Theory In Economic Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic contact in service encounters between groups in protracted conflict

Kushnirovich

Lissitsa

2022

Anal Soc Iss & Public Policy

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The study examines whether qualitative and quantitative characteristics of intercultural service encounters (ISEs) between majority customers and ethnic minority service providers are associated with better attitudes toward the entire minority group. The study was conducted in Israel through an online survey of 402 respondents. The study revealed that the customers derived pleasure from high perceived value of services and from taking advantage of a good deal. This pleasure, in turn, was positively related to attitudes toward the outgroup. High perceived value of service was associated with higher frequency of ISE that may be interpreted as repurchasing behavior. Overall, the total effect of perceived value of services between majority population and ethnic minority on attitudes toward this minority was significant and positive. Thus, economic beneficiality, which is a very important component of ISE, may contribute to improving relationships between groups in deep conflict.

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Harnessing Digital Media in the Fight Against Prejudice: Social Contact and Exposure to Digital Media Solutions

Cited by 17 publications

References 82 publications

From Silicon to Himalayan Valley(s): Tales of Serendipitous Exposure and Interfaith Contact on Social Media

From Silicon to Himalayan Valley(s): Tales of Serendipitous Exposure and Interfaith Contact on Social Media

What can be achieved with online intergroup contact interventions? Assessing long‐term attitude, knowledge, and behaviour change

Economic contact in service encounters between groups in protracted conflict

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