Dino Giovannini

Improving implicit and explicit intergroup attitudes using imagined contact: An experimental intervention with elementary school children

The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of imagined intergroup contact (Crisp & Turner, 2009) on elementary school children’s explicit and implicit intergroup attitudes. Italian 5th-graders participated in a 3-week intervention involving imagining meeting an unknown immigrant peer in various situations. Approximately 1 week after the last session, they completed measures of self-disclosure and behavioral intentions toward immigrants. Furthermore, they were administered a measure of implicit prejudice. Results showed that those taking part in the intervention, compared to participants in a control condition, revealed more positive behavioral intentions and implicit attitudes toward immigrants. Moreover, self-disclosure mediated the effect of imagined contact on outgroup behavioral intentions. Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed.

Improving intergroup relations with extended and vicarious forms of indirect contact

Research in social psychology has provided impressive evidence that intergroup contact reduces prejudice. However, to the extent that strategies based on direct contact are sometimes difficult to implement, scholars have more recently focused on indirect contact. An effective form of indirect contact is extended contact. According to the extended contact hypothesis, simply knowing that ingroup members have outgroup friends (extended contact), or observing these friendships vicariously (vicarious contact), can improve intergroup relations. Since its initial formulation a large body of studies has supported the validity of the extended contact hypothesis. In reviewing the available literature on two forms of indirect contact (extended and vicarious), we outline a model that identifies their antecedents and consequences, spanning from cognitive to affective to behavioural outcomes. In addition to identifying the main moderators of indirect contact, we also distinguish two different routes, one cognitive and one affective, that underlie what processes mediate their effects. Finally, we indicate some possible avenues for future research and we consider how direct and indirect contact strategies can be used in combination to improve intergroup relations.

Imagined intergroup contact facilitates intercultural communication for college students on academic exchange programs

Imagined intergroup contact (Crisp & Turner, 2009) is a new cognitive intervention designed to improve intergroup relations. In two studies, we examined whether it could also facilitate intercultural communication among international students and host country natives engaged in a college exchange program. In Study 1, international students who had recently arrived in Italy and participated in an imagined contact session displayed increased self-disclosure toward, and improved evaluation of, host country natives. In Study 2, Italian students mentally simulated positive contact with an unknown native from the host country prior to leaving for the exchange. Results from an online questionnaire administered on their return (on average, more than 7 months after the imagery task) revealed that participants who imagined contact reported spending more time with natives during the stay and enhanced outgroup evaluation, via reduced intergroup anxiety. Implications for enhancing the quality and effectiveness of college student exchange programs are discussed.

‘And the best essay is…’: Extended contact and cross-group friendships at school

We conducted one experimental intervention based on extended contact principles aimed at fostering the formation of cross-group friendships within educational settings. Italian school children took part in a school competition for the best essay on personal experiences of cross-group friendships with immigrants, to be written in small groups. This manipulation was intended to favour the exchange of personal positive cross-group experiences, thus capitalizing on the benefits of extended contact. In the control condition, participants wrote an essay on friendship, without reference to cross-group relations. Results revealed that children who took part in the intervention reported a higher number of outgroup friends 3 months later. This indirect effect was sequentially mediated by pro-contact ingroup and outgroup norms and by outgroup contact behavioural intentions. This study provides experimental evidence that interventions based on extended contact can foster cross-group friendship formation. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Inside the earthquake: Perceived disaster exposure and helping intentions among Italian and immigrant victims of the 2012 Italian earthquakes

The aim of the present research was to investigate the psychological processes driving outgroup helping intentions among ethnic groups actually involved in natural disasters. We proposed that disaster exposure would be associated with different degrees of outgroup helping intentions depending on victim’s ethnic group of belonging. Specifically, based on an integration between the common ingroup identity model (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000) and the integrated threat theory (Stephan & Stephan, 2000), we hypothesized that perceived disaster exposure would be negatively associated with ethnic majorities’ altruistic intentions via increased outgroup threat, and it would be positively associated with ethnic minorities’ altruistic intentions via enhanced one-group perception. The findings of our research conducted with Italian natives (i.e., majority group) and immigrants (i.e., minority group) struck by the 2012 Northern Italian earthquakes fully supported our predictions. Implications of these findings for developing “altruistic” communities in postdisaster contexts are discussed together with the importance of considering the combined contribution of different psychological theories.

The affective consequences of imagined contact: A review and some suggestions for future research

Recent research has provided consistent support for imagined intergroup contact (Crisp & Turner, 2012), a new indirect contact strategy for reducing prejudice. In the present review, we focus on the affective consequences of imagined contact. In particular, we review studies showing that imagined contact has powerful effects on reduced intergroup and performance anxiety, as well as increased trust and empathy toward outgroup members. Moreover, these effects extend to the affective part of intergroup attitudes tapped at both an explicit and at an implicit level. We also present evidence that some of these variables mediate the effects of imagined contact on reduced prejudice. Finally, we discuss the double nature, cognitive and affective, of imagined contact.

Strengthening Purity: Moral Purity as a Mediator of Direct and Extended Cross-Group Friendships on Sexual Prejudice.

ABSTRACT The present research investigated whether enhanced perceptions of moral purity drive the effects of intergroup cross-group friendships on the intentions to interact with homosexuals. High-school students (N = 639) reported their direct and extended cross-group friendships with homosexuals as well as their beliefs regarding the moral character of the sexual minority. Participants further reported their desire to interact with homosexuals in the future. Results showed that both face-to-face encounters and extended contact with homosexuals increased their perceived moral purity, which in turn fostered more positive behavioral intentions. Results further revealed the specific role of moral purity in this sense, as differential perceptions along other moral domains (autonomy and community) had no mediation effects on behavioral tendencies toward homosexuals. The importance of these findings for improving intergroup relations is discussed, together with the importance of integrating research on intergroup contact and morality.

Contatto esteso: mediatori, moderatori e interventi in contesti naturalistici

Nel 1997, Wright, Aron, McLaughlin-Volpe e Ropp hanno proposto l’ipotesi del contatto esteso, secondo la quale essere semplicemente a conoscenza del fatto che un proprio amico dell’ingroup ha uno o piu amici nell’outgroup e sufficiente per ridurre il pregiudizio. In questo lavoro proponiamo una rassegna degli studi condotti per verificare l’ipotesi del contatto esteso a distanza di quindici anni dalla sua formulazione iniziale. Dopo aver delineato l’utilita di avvalersi di approcci basati sul contatto esteso per il miglioramento delle relazioni intergruppi e aver illustrato le ricerche che ne hanno testato l’efficacia su un ampio numero di variabili dipendenti, presentiamo i principali mediatori e moderatori dei suoi effetti. Infine, prima di trarre le conclusioni in cui proponiamo suggerimenti per la ricerca futura, descriviamo alcuni interventi condotti in contesti naturalistici basati sulle premesse teoriche del contatto esteso.

Coesione sociale, senso di sicurezza e immigrazione: uno studio sui residenti italiani e stranieri della zona stazione di Reggio Emilia

In questo studio sono state esaminate le percezioni dei residenti italiani e stranieri dell’area stazione di Reggio Emilia rispetto al proprio contesto abitativo e alla loro qualita della vita. I risultati hanno mostrato sia somiglianze sia differenze tra i due gruppi. Per tutti gli abitanti intervistati e emerso che la qualita della vita e determinata dal livello di soddisfazione per la propria area di residenza e dall’intenzione di trasferirsi altrove. La coesione sociale e il senso di sicurezza risultano entrambi moderati, con conseguenze in parte diverse per italiani e stranieri, dal momento che si caratterizzano come elementi importanti associati alla qualita della vita soltanto per gli stranieri. Nel contributo vengono inoltre discusse le implicazioni teoriche e pratiche dei risultati.