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Study 1

Method

Participants Participants were 190 students (N = 72 males, N = 118 females) from four public secondary schools in three Polish cities (Krakow, Otwock and Warsaw). Ages ranged from 15 to 19 years (M = 17.28, SD = 0.77).

Measures

Independent variables The main predictor was a quantitative measure of contact. Respondents were asked about the extent of contact they have had with Jews (scale ranging from 0 to 4 or more meetings). The second predictor was the historical vs. contemporary topic of discussion. That is, participants were asked about the main subject of their discussions with the young Jews, namely, were they primarily contemporary or historical issues. [...]

Dependent variables Among the dependent variables in the study were: a measure of conspiracy stereotyping; a liking measure [...]; perceived similarity to young Jews [...]; and willingness to make material restitution for past harm done by the ingroup to the outgroup [...]. The measure of conspiracy stereotyping was the level of agreement with two hypothetical conspiratory actions by Jews [...]. Participants were asked if they considered contact between young Poles and Jews as important [...]. This dependent measure captures the effects of intergroup contact on intergroup anxiety, which has been shown to be the main mechanism of improving intergroup relations during contact.

Study 2

Method

Participants Participants (N = 43 males, N = 54 females) were recruited from the ‘March of the Living’ Jewish groups visiting places where Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. They were Jewish students aged 15 to 18 years (M = 16.67, SD = 0.82) from three countries: USA, Canada and Australia.

Treatments and measures

Independent variables and procedure The major treatment was experimentally manipulated contact. Participants either did have intergroup contact (47 participants took part in a meeting) or did not (50 participants did not take part in a meeting). In the contact condition, the topic of discussion was manipulated by instructions given to participants at the beginning. Jewish students were divided into small groups (eight– ten people), each of which was accompanied by two Polish students. The discussion topics concentrated either on historical matters [...]. After the meeting, all of the Jewish participants completed the dependent measures.

Dependent variables Similar dependent measures were used as in Study 1: perceived similarity to outgroup on a 7-point scale [...] and perceived importance of the contact [...], also on a 7-point scale. Additionally, two items assessing feelings of threat from generalized outgroups was included [...]. [...] Participants in the current study were asked whether they thought that the Holocaust was an isolated event or if it could recur. Answers ranged from 1 (not at all ) to 7 (very much agree).