M a X Pla Nck Institute Fo R the S Tud Y O F R Elig Io Us a Nd Ethnic D Iversity
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Working Papers www.mmg.mpg.de/workingpapers MMG Working Paper 09-12 ● ISSN 2192-2357 MILES HEWSTONE (University of Oxford) Living apart, living together? The role of intergroup contact in social integration Religious and Ethnic Diversity und multiethnischer Gesellschaften Max Planck Institute for the Study of Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung multireligiöser Miles Hewstone Living apart, living together? The role of intergroup contact in social integration MMG Working Paper 09-12 Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung multireligiöser und multiethnischer Gesellschaften, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity Göttingen © 2009 by the author ISSN 2192-2357 (MMG Working Papers Print) Working Papers are the work of staff members as well as visitors to the Institute’s events. The analyses and opinions presented in the papers do not reflect those of the Institute but are those of the author alone. Download: www.mmg.mpg.de/workingpapers MPI zur Erforschung multireligiöser und multiethnischer Gesellschaften MPI for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen Hermann-Föge-Weg 11, 37073 Göttingen, Germany Tel.: +49 (551) 4956 - 0 Fax: +49 (551) 4956 - 170 www.mmg.mpg.de [email protected] Abstract This paper outlines the central role of intergroup contact in promoting successful social integration between members of different groups. The paper deals with six main issues: (1) the main types of intergroup contact, and whether they are effective; (2) under what conditions intergroup contact is most effective; (3) by what proc- esses intergroup contact works; (4) the extensive effects of intergroup contact beyond changes in explicit attitudes towards outgroups; (5) the major policy implications of intergroup contact; and (6) criticisms of intergroup contact, and rejoinders to them. Finally, progress is summarized in the form of a new theoretical model, and conclusions are drawn about the centrality of ‘meaningful contact’ for improving intergroup relations. Author MILES HEWSTONE FBA is Professor of Social Psychology and Fellow of New Col- lege, Oxford University. His main research topic is intergroup relations and the reduction of intergroup conflict, especially via intergroup contact, and he has edited or authored many books, including Psychology (Blackwell, 2006). He was the recipi- ent of the Kurt Lewin Award, for Distinguished Research Achievement, from the European Association for Experimental Social Psychology in 2005. Address: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD. [email protected] This paper is based on the British Academ y/British Psychological Society Lecture presented at the Academy, March 14, 2006. Acknowledgments. This paper underpins much of the work I am developing with the Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen. It draws on over 20 years of theorizing and empirical research. I owe four tremendous debts of thanks in this respect. First, I thank the following organizations for finan- cial support: Central Community Relations Unit (Belfast, Northern Ireland); Eco- nomic and Social Research Council; Leverhulme Trust; Nuffield Foundation; Russell Sage Foundation; John Templeton Foundation. Second, I have been blessed with an extraordinary array of talented graduate students and post docs who have worked with me on this topic, and I draw liberally on our work, acknowledging their contri- butions in citations to our joint publications where they are (deservedly) typically the first authors: Ananthi al-Ramiah; Mir Rabiul Islam; Jared Kenworthy; Elissa Myers; Stefania Paolini; Katharina Schmid; Melanie Sharp; Hermann Swart; Tania Tam; Nicole Tausch; Rhiannon Turner; Christiana Vonofakou; and Pamela Walker. Third, I thank colleagues who have collaborated with me: Rupert Brown, Ed Cairns, Oliver Christ, Jake Harwood, Joanne Hughes, Charles M. Judd, Anna Christina Nobre and, most especially, Alberto Voci. Finally, I thank Ananthi al-Ramiah, Huseyin Cakal, Ron Johnston, Tony Manstead, and Hermann Swart for their helpful comments on an earlier version. Contents Introduction....................................................................................................... 7 Varieties of intergroup contact and whether they ‘work’ .................................... 9 Direct, face-to-face contact under ‘optimal conditions’ ................................. 9 A methodological note ................................................................................ 10 Indirect Forms of Contact .......................................................................... 12 Summary ................................................................................................... 14 Under what conditions is contact most effective? ............................................... 14 Summary ................................................................................................... 19 Mediators of the effects of contact .................................................................... 19 Mediators of direct-contact effects ................................................................ 21 Intergroup anxiety ..................................................................................... 22 Threat........................................................................................................ 25 Intergroup emotions, empathy and perspective-taking ................................. 26 Self-disclosure ............................................................................................ 28 Summary of mediators of direct contact ..................................................... 28 Mediators of extended-contact effects ........................................................... 30 Summary of mediators of extended contact ................................................ 33 Studies of moderated mediation .................................................................... 33 Summary of research showing moderated mediation ................................... 35 How extensive are the effects of contact? ........................................................... 35 Variations on the theme of attitudes ........................................................... 35 Forgiveness and trust .................................................................................. 39 Physiological and perceptual measures ....................................................... 40 Summary ................................................................................................... 42 Contact and its critics .................................................................................... 42 Theoretical issues ....................................................................................... 42 Empirical issues ......................................................................................... 44 Ethical Concerns ........................................................................................ 45 Summary ................................................................................................... 45 Policy implications of intergroup contact ........................................................... 46 Diversity and its discontents ....................................................................... 46 A Shared Future in Northern Ireland ............................................................ 49 Summary and caveat .................................................................................. 50 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 50 References .......................................................................................................... 53 There’s many a difference quickly found Between the different races, But the only essential differential Is living in different places. (Ogden Nash, Goody for Our Side and Your Side Too, 1935) Introduction The world is becoming a more diverse place, with the mix of groups in some localities so pronounced that it has been termed ‘super-diversity’ (Vertovec, 2007). Can these different groups co-exist and, better still, thrive together? The Cantle Report into social unrest in northern cities of England in 2001 referred to the “depth of polariza- tion” and segregated communities living “a series of parallel lives” (Cantle, 2001); Sir Herman Ouseley’s (2001) Commission for Racial Equality report remarked that, “If left to their own devices it seems people will retreat into their own separate ‘com- fort zones’ surrounding themselves only by people like themselves.” More recent sur- veys seem to support the view that members of different ethnic, racial and religious groups still live largely separate lives in contemporary Britain: ‘Four out of 10 whites do not want black neighbour, poll shows’ (The Guardian, 19 January, 2004); ‘90% of whites have few or no black friends’ (The Guardian, 19 July, 2004), yet they fail to take account of people’s opportunities to make such cross-group contacts. Moreover, other newspapers report that “one in ten children in Britain now lives in a mixed- race family” (The Observer, 18 January, 2009), that “there are enough examples of Muslims and non-Muslims learning to rub along”, and (with reference to Hunting- ton’s, 1993, pessimistic thesis) that “there is nothing predestined about the clash of civilisations” (The Economist, 6 December, 2008). Meanwhile singer Timmy Thomas asks famously, “Why can’t we