Do Positive and Negative Intergroup Contact Create Shifts in Ingroup and Outgroup Attitudes Over Time: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study Testing Alternative Mediation Models

Abstract

The current study investigated how contact experiences may be associated with attitudes towards the ingroup and the outgroup using a three-wave longitudinal study. We assessed Turkish native children's contact with Syrian refugees (N = 487, Mage = 10.60, SDage = 0.90) and explored relationships between initial contact and later ingroup and outgroup attitudes testing alternative mediation models. We also examined whether negative contact with outgroup members may directly or indirectly predict more positive ingroup attitudes. Findings demonstrated that positive contact was associated with both reduced ingroup positivity and increased outgroup positivity over time. However, unlike the traditionally suggested mediational pathway in contact-deprovincialization literature, initial positive contact (T1) was associated with less positive ingroup attitudes (T3) through more positive outgroup attitudes at T2. There was no evidence for the role of negative intergroup contact on ingroup or outgroup attitudes. Findings are discussed within the broader scope of contact theory and the recently growing deprovincialization literature. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.