Understanding the impact of cross-group friendship on interactions with novel outgroup members.
We examined the cognitive processes that might account for the impact of cross-group friendship on novel intergroup situations. Study 1 demonstrated that closeness with outgroup members predicts an association of the outgroup with the self, both in terms of the group itself and the personality traits stereotypically associated with the group. In Studies 2 and 3, we manipulated the accessibility of either a same-group friendship or cross-group friendship. Participants who described a cross-group friend exhibited a greater association of the friend's ethnicity with the self, and this association mediated the effects of friendship accessibility on positive expectations for intergroup contact (Study 2) and adaptive hormonal responses during a real interaction with a novel outgroup member (Study 3). These findings imply that cross-group friendship improves novel intergroup experiences to the degree that outgroups become associated with the self.
Page-Gould
Elizabeth
E
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada. elizabeth.page-gould@utsc.utoronto.ca
Mendoza-Denton
Rodolfo
R
Alegre
Jan Marie
JM
Siy
John Oliver
JO
D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D013240:Stereotyping; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult