Intergroup contact in multiple adolescents’ contexts: The Intergroup Contact Interactions Scale (ICIS)

Abstract

In the present contribution, we aimed to test the psychometric properties of the Intergroup Contact Interactions Scale (ICIS). The ICIS is a tool that can easily be administered to assess ethnic minority and majority adolescents’ positive and negative intergroup contact in both school and out-of-school contexts. Study I included 169 adolescents in Italy (40.2% ethnic minority adolescents; 51.5% female; Mage = 14.41) and provided initial support for the two-factor structure (i.e., positive and negative contact) of the ICIS in both school and out-of-school contexts. Study II, conducted with a sample of 1,037 adolescents in Italy (26.5% ethnic minority adolescents; 59.7% female; Mage = 14.58), indicated that the fit of the two-factor ICIS structure was excellent for both school and out-of-school contexts. Measurement invariance across ethnic minority and majority adolescents was also established. Convergent validity was also ascertained by highlighting meaningful associations of adolescents’ positive and negative contact with the quantity of contact as well as with their perceptions regarding parents’ positive and negative contact with outgroup members. Study III, involving a sample of 641 adolescents in Turkey (32.9% ethnic minority adolescents; 69.6% female; Mage = 15.51), supported the two-factor structure, as well as convergent validity, of the ICIS in both contexts. Measurement invariance across ethnic groups was also established. Overall, these studies suggest that the ICIS is a reliable measure for studying positive and negative intergroup contact among ethnic minority and majority adolescents across school and out-of-school contexts.

Meeting in school: Cultural diversity approaches of teachers and intergroup contact among ethnic minority and majority adolescents

“…Intergroup Contact Interactions Scale (Karataş et al, 2022 ; see also Table S2 for the standardized factor loadings and fit indices at T 1) was employed to assess adolescents' positive and negative contact in schools. Initially, participants were asked to think about their own interactions with outgroup members in school during the last 6 months by providing the following prompt: “The following questions are about interactions you may have had in school with people of foreign origin [Italian people].…”

Positive and negative intergroup contact in school and out‐of‐school contexts: A longitudinal approach to spillover effects

“…In the validation study (Karataş, Rubini, et al, 2023), the ICIS was found to show an excellent two‐factor structure (i.e., positive and negative contact) in both school and out‐of‐school contexts, and measurement invariance across ethnic minority and majority adolescents was also established. In order to further support the distinction between valence and contexts, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with four latent factors (i.e., positive contact in school, negative contact in school, positive contact in out‐of‐school context, and negative contact in out‐of‐school contexts) and 20 observed indicators (five per latent factor) was conducted in the present study.…”

“…Adolescents' positive and negative contact in school and out‐of‐school contexts were assessed with the Intergroup Contact Interactions Scale (ICIS; Karataş, Rubini, et al, 2023). Initially, participants were asked to think about their own interactions with outgroup members in the school context [out‐of‐school contexts such as public places, sports groups] during the last 6 months by providing the following explanation: “The following questions are about interactions you may have had in school [out‐of‐school] with people of foreign origin [Italian people].…”