Reducing prejudice and discrimination

Abstract

While each of the three main explanations of prejudice discussed in Chapters 3 through 5 has implications for how prejudice and discrimination might be reduced, almost all research into their reduction has focused on Allport’s contact hypothesis (CH). This stipulated four conditions – equal-status contact , the pursuit of common/superordinate goals in a co-operative spirit , sanctioned by institutional supports – which together are sufficient for prejudice reduction. Most research has focused on the first two, and there is considerable support for these conditions, including the final stage of the Robbers Cave experiment and Aronson et al.’s jigsaw classroom method of interdependent learning . One major issue arising from this research is whether the more positive feelings produced through contact with particular outgroup members generalizes to the outgroup as a whole . Allport’s conditions act as facilitators of more effective intergroup contact rather than being absolutely necessary. According to Gaertner and Dovidio’s common ingroup identity model (CIIM), co-operative contact should reduce group/category salience and at the same time increase the adoption of a superordinate identity (‘we’ replaces ‘us’ and ‘them’). Recent research has expanded what’s understood by ‘contact’ to include extended intergroup contact (knowing an ingroup member who has an outgroup member friend), imagined intergroup contact and electronic (or E-) contact . Other methods shown to help reduce prejudice and discrimination include education and consciousness raising (as in Elliot’s ‘blue eyes-brown eyes’ experiment) and collective blame hypocrisy intervention .

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