Intergroup contact and outgroup discrimination: the role of social norms

Tense intergroup relations in multicultural societies reflect the presence of preju dice and discrimination and pose a challenge for the improvement of intergroup rela tions. According to the social psychology theories, direct intergroup contact is proven as a useful tool in reducing prejudice and discrimination towards the outgroup, thus providing conditions for the improvement of intergroup relations. The role of social norms may be crucial in explaining why intergroup contact is such an effective tool in reducing intergroup prejudice. The purpose of this research is to examine the re lation between direct intergroup contact and the tendency to discriminate against the outgroup. We wanted to explore if this relation was mediated by social norms. In total, 361 pupils from 8 th and 9 th grades from the city of Tetovo, Republic of North Macedonia, are included in this research (195 pupils that study in Albanian and 166 that study in Macedonian language). The average age of the pupils is 13.7. Structural equation modeling was used and the hypothesized model appeared to be a good fit to the data. In the model, direct intergroup contact predicted the discrimination ten dency being affected only by family norms. The indirect effect test shows that family norms mediate the relationship between direct intergroup contact and the tendency to discriminate. The model accounted for 48% of the variance discrimination tenden cy. There were differences in model predictions for the groups of different statuses (i.e. majority and minority). Our results show that direct intergroup contact may be well used in improving intergroup relations and that social norms may be a powerful tool in producing these effects.