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

Abstract

Recent contact literature has shown that imagining a positive intergroup encounter improves intergroup attitudes and behaviors, yet less is known about the effects of imagined contact in high conflict settings. We conducted three studies to understand the potential effects of imagined intergroup contact among ethnic Turks (majority status) and ethnic Kurds (minority status) in the Turkish-Kurdish interethnic conflict setting. Study 1 (N 5 47, Turkish) tested standard imagined contact effects (neutral vs. standard imagined contact condition) among majority Turks and showed that imagined contact was effective on outgroup attitudes, perceived threat, intergroup anxiety, and support for multiculturalism only among participants with higher ethnic identification.Study 2 (N 5 107, Turkish) examined how ethnic identification of the contact partner would influence the effectiveness of the standard imagined contact scenario (neutral vs. standard vs. ethnic identification condition) and demonstrated that imagined contact effects were more negative when the contact partner identified with his/her ethnic group during imagined contact. Study 3 (N 5 55, Kurdish) investigated imagined contact effects (neutral vs. standard imagined contact condition) among an ethnic minority group and showed that imagined contact did not improve minority group members' outgroup attitudes, but did decrease intergroup anxiety and perceived discrimination (marginally significantly) and increased perceived positive attitudes from the majority group. Practical implications of the use of imagined intergroup contact strategy in conflictridden settings were discussed.

Cross‐group friendships and psychological well‐being: A dual pathway through social integration and empowerment

“…Moreover, compared to majority group members for whom intergroup anxiety stems from being accused as prejudiced, minority group members’ intergroup anxiety often stems from their negative expectations from the majority group (Devine & Vasquez, ; Tropp, Hawi, et al ., ; Tropp, Mazziotta, et al ., ), which suggests that for the minority group in particular, the perception of the majority group's attitudes towards the minority group may be an immediate consequence of intergroup contact. In line with this, previous studies demonstrated that positive contact experiences could improve minorities’ perception of majority group's attitudes and beliefs (Bagci, Piyale, & Ebcim, ; Tropp, Hawi, et al ., ; Tropp, Mazziotta, et al ., ) and such expectancies from the outgroup are likely to shape own outgroup attitudes (e.g., López‐Rodríguez, Zagefka, Navas, & Cuadrado, ; Zagefka et al ., ).…”

“…In line with our expectations, we found cross‐group friendships to be related to more positive majority outgroup attitudes and relate to higher levels of collective self‐esteem, that is, the extent to which disabled people feel socially accepted. Previous research has demonstrated that contact strategies may be even more effective in changing minority group members’ perceived outgroup attitudes from the majority, than changing their own attitudes (Bagci, Piyale, & Ebcim, ). Therefore, for minority groups, intergroup contact may have a more prominent role in changing how minority group members feel about themselves and how they perceive themselves from the perspective of the majority group.…”

Imagined contact with strongly identified outgroup members: Do religious trappings make the man?

“…Few studies have examined the effects of imagined contact among minority groups, and even fewer have compared the effects in majority and minority groups. These few studies have shown that the positive effects of imagined contact on outgroup attitudes are demonstrated among majority group members, but not among minority members, in Mexico (Stathi & Crisp, 2008) and in Turkey (Bagci, Stathi, & Piyale, 2019) or have an impact among minority Kurd members on certain measures, not including outgroup attitudes (Bagci, Piyale, & Ebcim, 2018). It has also been found that although imagined contact had positive outcomes among Eastern European minority members in the United Kingdom; minority Kurd members in Turkey, especially those who were more identified with their ingroup, did not reveal positive effects following imagined contact (Bagci et al, 2019).…”

When imagining intergroup contact mobilizes collective action: The perspective of disadvantaged and advantaged groups

“…Although research has demonstrated the benefits of imagined contact as regards improved intergroup relationships, imagined contact has been rarely applied among minority group members (but see Bagci, Piyale, & Ebcim, 2018;Bagci, Stathi, & Piyale, in press;Stathi & Crisp, 2008) and no research to date has examined specifically whether imagined contact may produce the suggested unintended consequences of direct contact, i.e., reduced motivation to act collectively on behalf of the ingroup (e.g., Dixon et al, 2010). To our knowledge, the only two studies examining the role of imagined contact on variables related to collective action investigated whether imagined contact increased advantaged group members' support for disadvantaged group members' rights (see Bagci et al, 2018;Carvalho-Freitas & Stathi, 2017).…”