Interracial Contact at Work: Can Workplace Diversity Reduce Bias?

Journal of Social Issues, 1985

The articles in this issue examine the contact hypothesis in intergroup relations. Although intergroup relations have been an abiding concern of many SPSSI members, the last JSI number to deal with intergroup relations (Ashmore, 1976) had only one article (Hamilton & Bishop, 1976) that even mentioned the pioneering theoretical work on the contact hypothesis (G. W. Allport, 1954; Watson, 1947; Williams, 1947). Given the crucial role contact plays in intergroup relations and the ongoing debate over the outcomes of intergroup contact, the present issue fills a critical need. The articles in this issue substantiate, extend, and modify the contact hypothesis. The contact hypothesis has always been at the heart of the study of intergroup relations. The following are two statements of this hypothesis made almost 25 years apart. Prejudice may be reduced by equal status contact between majority and minority groups in the pursuit of common goals. The effect is greatly enhanced if this contact is sanctioned by institutional supports (i,e., by law, custom, or local atmosphere). and provided it is of a sort that leads to the perception of common interests and common humanity between members of the two groups. (G. W. Allport. 1954, p. 281) Attitude change favorable to a disliked group will result from equal status contact with stereotype-disconfirming persons from that group, provided that the contact is cooperative and of such a nature a5 to reveal the individual characteristics of the person contacted and that it takes place in a situation characterized by social norms favoring equality and equalitarian association among the participating groups. (Cook, 1978, pp. 97-98

Dividends from employee diversity may require intergroup knowledge and information sharing, which in turn may depend on supportive peer relations. Yet little is known about the antecedents of such supportive relations among the racially dissimilar. We posited that the relative prevalence of supportive relations among dissimilar peers will be higher in work units with high task interdependence and a strong peer support climate but will decline as the proportion of racially different others increases (a "homophily" effect). An inverse relationship between the proportion of racially different others and supportive relations among whites and blacks was found; it was curvilinear and moderated by support climate. garding this work should be sent to Peter Bamberger (peterb@tx.technion.ac.il).

Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 2015

The outcomes of social interactions among members of different groups (e.g., racial groups, political groups, sexual orientation groups) have long been of interest to psychologists. Two related literatures on the topic have emerged-the intergroup interaction literature and the intergroup contact literature-in which divergent conclusions have been reported. Intergroup interaction is typically found to have negative effects tied to intergroup bias, producing heightened stress, intergroup anxiety, or outgroup avoidance, whereas intergroup contact is typically found to have positive effects tied to intergroup bias, predicting lower intergroup anxiety and lower prejudice. We examine these paradoxical findings, proposing that researchers contributing to the two literatures are examining different levels of the same phenomenon and that methodological differences can account for the divide between the literatures. Further, we introduce a mathematical model by which the findings of the two l...

International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 2008

Intergroup contact theory and research has received renewed interest in recent years. And this new work has led to rapid advances. This paper summarizes this progress and points to four future directions for further advances. (1) There is a continuing need to specify the processes of intergroup contact that explain its many effects. This is a call for continued efforts to determine the many mediators and moderators that are involved.

New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, 2020

2019

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2004

Furthering G. W. Allport's (1954) contentions for optimal contact, the authors introduce a new construct: the perceived importance of contact. They propose that perceived importance is the best proximal predictor of contact's reduction of prejudice. If individuals have opportunities for contact at work or in the neighborhood, their chances to have intergroup acquaintances and friends increase. Intergroup contact among acquaintances and friends can be perceived as more or less important, which in turn determines intergroup evaluations. A 1st study shows that the new measure of perceived importance is indeed distinct from established quantity and quality indicators. The results are cross-validated in a 2nd study that also sheds light on the meaning of importance. In 3rd and 4th studies, structural equation analyses and a meta-analysis support the hypotheses. The present article introduces a new variable in the research on intergroup relations-the subjectively perceived importance of intergroup contact. The contact hypothesis maintains that bringing groups into contact under favorable conditions is an effective way to reduce intergroup tension, anxiety, hostility, and prejudice. Gordon Allport (1954) formulated the basic principles of the contact hypothesis in his famous The Nature of Prejudice. He proposed that there is no simple relationship between contact and out-group liking and evaluation but that the effect depends on the conditions of the contact situation. Four optimal contact conditions are held to be crucial for the reduction of prejudice (Allport, 1954; Pettigrew, 1997, 1998): equal status, common goals, cooperation instead of competition, and support of authorities and institutions. Intergroup friendship is regarded as an ideal contact experience that is likely to meet all four conditions and reduce intergroup prejudice (Pettigrew, 1997). Since its original formulation, literally hundreds of studies have tested the predictions of the contact hypothesis in various fields of application. Summarizing the results of this vast research, contact is especially likely to reduce intergroup prejudice if it takes place

Cambridge University Press eBooks, 2012

This working paper is the main theoretical chapter (Chapter 2) of my book in progress, Segregation and Mistrust, under contract to Cambridge University Press. "The more we get together, the happier we'll be." Children's song by Jim Rule "Good luck will rub off when I shakes (sic) hands with you." The chimney sweep in Mary Poppins "To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him." Phil Spector 1 "Familiarity breeds contempt." Alternatively ascribed to Aesop, The Fox and the Lion, to Mark Twain-and to a Nigerian proverb. 2 Contact is both the great hope and the great fear of liberals who work to make people more tolerant of those from different backgrounds. Contact theory, which Pettigrew and Tropp (2006, 751-2) trace back to the 1940s and especially to the summary by , is the claim that exposure to people of different backgrounds leads to greater tolerance. The greater the opportunity for interacting with people who are different from yourself, the more likely you are to hold positive attitudes toward them. Conflict theory dates back even further . It is based upon the argument that interactions among people of different backgrounds is likely to lead to more hostility. Key (1949, 666) argued that Southern whites in the United States were most likely to support racist candidates for office in areas with large populations of African-Americans. These two conficting theories of attitude formation toward "the other"-people who are different from yourself-have dominated arguments about how majorities and minorities relate to * p < .10 ** p < .05 *** p < .01 **** p < .0001 (all tests one tailed except for constants) Percent minority high school degree dropped because of collinearity in this subsample.

British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 2008

Intergroup contact and evaluations about race-based exclusion were assessed for majority and minority students in fourth, seventh, and tenth grades (N = 685). Students were presented with scenarios depicting cross-race relations in contexts of dyadic friendship, parental discomfort, and peer group disapproval. Participants reporting higher levels of intergroup contact gave higher ratings of wrongfulness of exclusion and lower frequency estimations of race-based exclusion than did participants reporting lower levels of such contact. Intergroup contact also predicted students' attributions of motives in two out of three scenarios. Findings are discussed in terms of the extant literature on peer relations, moral reasoning, and intergroup contact. One of the key developments in the field of social psychological research on intergroup relations is a renewed appreciation of Allport's (1954) intergroup contact hypothesis (Dovidio, Glick, & Rudman, 2004). Allport (1954) specified, among other things, the conditions under which contact between individuals from different racial groups can be effective in reducing prejudice, in particular, when contact is: among groups of equal status, based on common goals, based on cooperation rather than competition, and supported by external authorities. Abundant research in social psychology exists on the benefits of intergroup contact among adults (e.g.,

Journal of Experimental …, 2010

People use many cues to infer the likelihood of acceptance or rejection in intergroup interactions. Nearly all prior research has focused on personal cues directly given off by the potential interaction partner (e.g., eye contact and smiling). However, we argue that in the context of intergroup interactions, individuals may be especially sensitive to broader social cues, such as an interaction partner's social network. Across three experiments we explored differences in White participants' evaluations of a smiling Black man presented with a Black or White friend. When this Black man was featured with a Black friend, White participants reported greater rejection concerns and a greater inclination to reject this Black man compared to when he was featured with a White friend (Experiments 1–3) or featured alone (Experiment 2). Furthermore, when participants received a simple intervention designed to buffer against social rejection, the race of the Black man's friend no longer influenced participants' interests in befriending the Black man (Experiment 3). This research demonstrates the power of friendships in interracial interactions and provides evidence for a simple intervention to reduce the weight of rejection concerns in interracial interactions.