The Power of Biography: Using the Diary of Anne Frank to Stimulate Generalisation and Secondary Transfer of Willingness for Intergroup Contact

Abstract

An impact evaluation of a large-scale field study tested the effects of biographical intergroup contact on children and adolescents' willingness to have intergroup contact with individuals from 12 social categories. Biographical contact was implemented through the anti-prejudice programme led by the educational charity the Anne Frank Trust UK, based on the life of the Jewish teenager Anne Frank. Before and after participating in the programme, young people between the ages of 9 and 17 years (N = 1413 from 69 participating schools) completed a ‘Contact Star' measure of their willingness for close social contact with individuals from each of the social categories. Biographical contact substantially improved willingness for contact with Jewish people (the initial target group) as well as with all 11 other groups, as measured by the Contact Star. Additionally, increased willingness for contact with Jewish people was strongly predictive of increased willingness for contact with the other groups, thereby demonstrating a secondary transfer of improved intergroup attitudes. The effect was similarly large in the case of outgroups that were less similar or familiar to participants, contrary to the idea that secondary transfer weakens as the outgroups become less similar (a generalisation gradient). Theoretical and practical implications of this potentially powerful new form of contact are discussed.