Dispositional empathy and personality as predictors of contact quality: The mediating roles of contact self-efficacy and effort towards contact

Abstract

While the prejudice-reduction effect of intergroup contact has been extensively demonstrated, research identifying antecedents of positive contact and underlying mechanisms is limited. Two studies, in Italy (N = 239 Italian adolescents) and the UK (N = 299 White British adults), examined dispositional empathy and personality traits as predictors of contact quality, with effort towards contact and contact self-efficacy as underlying mechanisms. Study 1 revealed that empathic concern and extraversion was associated with higher contact quality with immigrants in Italy via greater contact effort. Study 2 replicated and extended these findings, showing that contact self-efficacy and then contact effort sequentially mediated the associations of empathic concern and personality (extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness) with contact quality with Asian British in the UK. Perspective-taking was not associated with contact quality. Our findings highlight the value of integrating dispositional/personality, social cognitive and intergroup approaches in the study of antecedents of contact quality and underlying mechanisms, with implications for the design of prejudice-interventions.