Negative intergroup contact makes group memberships salient: explaining why intergroup conflict endures.
Drawing from the intergroup contact model and self-categorization theory, the authors advanced the novel hypothesis of a valence-salience effect, whereby negative contact causes higher category salience than positive contact. As predicted, in a laboratory experiment of interethnic contact, White Australians (N = 49) made more frequent and earlier reference to ethnicity when describing their ethnic contact partner if she had displayed negative (vs. positive, neutral) nonverbal behavior. In a two-wave experimental study of retrieved intergenerational contact, American young adults (N = 240) reported age to be more salient during negative (vs. positive) contact and negative contact predicted increased episodic and chronic category salience over time. Some evidence for the reverse salience-valence effect was also found. Because category salience facilitates contact generalization, these results suggest that intergroup contact is potentially biased toward worsening intergroup relations; further implications for theory and policy making are discussed.
School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia. Stefania.Paolini@Newcastle.edu.au
Stefania
S
Paolini
Jake
J
Harwood
Mark
M
Rubin
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D011897:Random Allocation; D012919:Social Behavior; D012933:Social Identification; D012938:Social Perception; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology