Belief congruence and prejudice reduction in an interracial contact setting

Publication Year
1988

Type

Journal Article
Abstract

The effect of shared beliefs on the reduction of prejudicial attitudes in an interracial contact setting was investigated. Seventy-four white males from a small rural college participated in discussion groups, each including 3 black and 2 white male confederates instructed to agree or disagee with the subject. Overall prejudicial attitudes toward Blacks were assessed prior to, immediately following, and 6 weeks after the discussion sessions. Greater prejudice reduction and more positive interpersonal perceptions were expected when Blacks and Whites exchanged similar as opposed to dissimilar beliefs. Perceptions of fellow group members, obtained immediately following each session, varied predictably as a function of agreement and disagreement conditions. Overall prejudice reduction, however, was indicated across all interracial contact groups, suggesting that belief congruity was not necessary.

Journal
The Journal of Social Psychology
Volume
128
Pages
125-134
Type of Article
Journal Article
Full text

The following is an excerpt of the intervention methodology. For more information, please see the full text of the article on the publisher's website or through your institution's library.

Method

Subjects White, male, first and second year students (N = 74) enrolled at a small, rural community college were recruited to participate in a study of college students' attitudes in the 1980s. [...] Average prejudice toward Blacks was not extreme, as the pretest scores on the Otis Stereotyped Attitude Scale clustered heavily toward the middle of the measurement scale.

Confederates Six black and 4 white confederates were carefully selected. [...] The 10 confederates selected made up two confederate groups, each with 3 black members and 2 white members. [...] Training of confederates included an emphasis on the importance of maintaining secrecy, learning options, both pro and con, concerning the experimental discussion topics, rehearsal sessions identical to the planned experimental sessions, and instruction on tactful disagreement procedures to assure sincerity and realism. [...]

Instruments

Otis Stereotyped Attitude Scale. Otis (1976) constructed Form W to measure stereotyped attitudes of Whites toward Blacks. It consists of 20 statements regarding the general nature of Blacks on a number of topics. Response format is a 1-5 Likert type Scale. [...]

Interpersonal Perception Questionnaire (IPQ). Hendrick and Rumenik (1973) used the IPQ to measure individuals' perceptions of designated members of another racial group. Seven-point Likert type response formats provided for IPQ ratings of both the black and white confederates in the discussion groups. [...]

Procedure

Pretest session. The pretest was administered in the college cafeteria with all potential participants (and confederates) present. [...] Pretest packets comprised of a demographic questionnaire and the OSAS were distributed on tables. [...]

Session 1. [...] Chairs were arranged in a circle with all six participants choosing seats in what appeared to be a random order. In actuality, black confederates were instructed not to sit together. The experimenter greeted the group and selected the naive subject to be the group leader. The group leader (subject) was responsible for giving his opinion (agree or disagree) to a statement provided on a 5 in. x 8 in. card. The topics chosen included three race-related questions and three neutral current issues. [...] The confederates responded in random order and either agreed or disagreed with the subject's responses, depending on the belief manipulation specified for each experimental group. [...] After each confederate responded by either agreeing or disagreeing with the subject, each person was required to give one reason for his response. [...] Four confederate agreement conditions were created: (a) agree with subjects in both weekly sessions (agree-agree), (b) disagree with subjects in both weekly sessions (disagree-disagree), (c) agree during the first week and disagree during the second weekly session (agree-disagree), and (d) disagree during the first session and agree during the second (disagree-agree). The control groups discussed the same six issues with no manipulation of agreement. [...]

Session 2. Procedures for this session were identical to Session 1 except that subjects met with a different confederate group, confederate belief manipulation was reversed for the agree-disagree and disagree-agree, and the six discussion topics were changed, again having three racerelated issues and three neutral items. Following this session, subjects (and confederates) completed the IPQ, the OSAS (posttest), and a follow-up questionnaire. [...]

Delayed posttest and debriefing. Six weeks after Session 2, subjects were asked to complete the OSAS once more in a large group meeting. [...]

Type of Prejudice/Bias
Country
Method
Setting