Discerning the other: political prejudice and intergroup contact

Increasing political polarization in the United States over the last 60 years has led to an increase in self-segregation by political affiliation. This can be seen at the level of the nation, state, city, and even the neighborhood. In contrast, many data trends suggest that polarization between other groups (e.g., racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation) has decreased during the same time. One of the most studied methods for decreasing intergroup prejudice has been Gordon Allport’s intergroup contact hypothesis. Allport suggested that contact between groups who see themselves as equals with common interests, common goals, and the support of cultural institutions are more likely to reduce prejudice between said groups. But while this hypothesis has been extensively studied in a wide variety of contexts, precious few studies have done so in the context of political affiliation. This mixed methods study attempts to apply the lessons of other applications of Allport’s hypothesis to members of opposing political groups using direct one-on-one discussion between individuals in these groups and follow-up interviews. Qualitative and quantitative results suggest that participants were positive in their evaluation of each other and their discussion, and that it is likely that intergroup contact decreases political prejudice both immediately and 30 days after the discussion.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Author dc:creator

• Durham, Matthew

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hood, Ralph W., Jr., 1942-
• Silver, Christopher F.; Rausch, David W.; Black, Kristen Jennings, 1991-
• College of Arts and Sciences

• Intergroup relations
• Prejudices
• Social interaction

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English, eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/688

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1852