Enhancing the Imagined Contact Effect

ABSTRACT

Recent research has found that mentally simulating positive out-group contact experiences can promote tolerance and more positive intergroup perceptions. We investigated two ways of enhancing this imagined contact effect. In Study 1 we found that asking participants to generate more detail in their imagined encounter led to expectations of their having a greater number of out-group acquaintances in the future. In Study 2 we found that instructing participants to close their eyes during an imagined encounter led to heightened intentions to engage in future actual contact. These findings add further support to the notion that imagining intergroup contact may be a valuable addition to existing interventions aimed at improving intergroup relations.

Keywords:

• imagined contact
• intergroup contact
• prejudice

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard John Crisp

Senel Husnu completed her BSc and MSc at Middle East Technical University in Turkey and her PhD at the University of Kent. She is currently a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Derby. Her main research interests focus on intergroup contact theory and the reduction of intergroup conflict. Richard John Crisp completed his BSc at the University of Oxford and his PhD at Cardiff University. He is currently Professor of Psychology and Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Kent. His main research interests focus on the psychology of social and cultural diversity and intergroup contact theory.