Pablo De Tezanos-Pinto

What will the others think? In-group norms as a mediator of the effects of intergroup contact.

The influence of social norms in the context of intergroup relations has long been recognized by social psychologists, yet research on intergroup contact and social norms have usually remained disconnected. We explored the influence of direct and indirect friendship on attitudes towards ethnic minorities in Norway, and in particular the role of in-group norms about the social approval of intergroup contact as a mechanism that distinguishes direct from indirect contact. Using a sample of school students from 89 classrooms (N=823), we tested this hypothesis with both one level and multi-level structural equation modelling (ML-SEM), where the amount of contact of other classroom members was considered as a form of indirect contact. The results suggest that the intergroup contact of other in-group members (in-group friends or classmates) affects attitudes towards the out-group by changing the perception of in-group norms and by reducing intergroup anxiety. In contrast, direct contact (or contact at the individual level in the case of ML-SEM), improved attitudes only by reducing intergroup anxiety, and did not affect the perception of in-group norms.

Actitudes implícitas y explícitas hacia personas con síndrome de Down: un estudio en colegios con y sin programas de integración de Chile

Resumen La integración escolar puede disminuir el prejuicio entre sus miembros a través del contacto. En esta área, las investigaciones suelen utilizar medidas explícitas pero son escasas las que han usado mediciones implícitas. En este artículo se pretende evaluar ambos tipos de actitudes hacia las personas con síndrome de Down (PCSD). Ochenta estudiantes chilenos entre los 11 y 15 años, pertenecientes a colegios con y sin programas de integración, participaron de este estudio. Las actitudes implícitas fueron medidas a través del Test de Asociación Implícita (IAT). Los resultados mostraron que los estudiantes, independiente del sistema escolar, mostraron sesgo implícito hacia las PCSD. En las actitudes explícitas, si bien ambas muestras exhibieron bajos niveles de prejuicio, en los colegios integrados se expresó menos ansiedad hacia las PCSD. Finalmente, la calidad, cantidad y saliencia se asociaron con menor ansiedad y más estereotipos positivos hacia las PCSD.

Intergroup contact and reconciliation among Liberian refugees: A multilevel analysis in a multiple groups setting.

This research examined how direct and extended intergroup contact can promote reconciliation in the aftermath of the Liberian civil wars (N = 181 refugees). We measured intergroup contact and attitudes toward each of the 16 ethnic groups in Liberia, and used multilevel analyses to investigate the relation between contact and attitudes toward each outgroup, as well as the influence of overall intergroup contact on reconciliation. At the within-individual level, both direct and extended cross-group friendships predicted attitudes toward specific groups, regardless of participants’ overall levels of intergroup contact. At the between-individual level, intergroup contact was related to a more positive overall assessment of ethnic outgroups, which in turn was related to greater intergroup trust, empathy, and forgiveness. We also explored the role of traumatic war experiences in this process, showing that the within-individual relation between intergroup contact and attitudes is stronger for those more traumatized by the war, both for direct and extended cross-group friendships. These findings stress the importance of direct and extended intergroup contact in promoting reconciliation even after violent armed conflicts, and indeed especially for those that were more exposed to this violence.