Contact Theory

The Origins of Contact Theory

The horrific events of World War II stimulated a great deal of interest among social scientists in understanding the origins of prejudice, stereotyping, and discriminatory behavior, as well as in figuring out how to improve relationships between groups in cases in which one group believed itself to be superior to the other in various ways. Shortly after the end of the war, American sociologist Robin Williams concluded, on the basis of a review of research done up to that time, that intergroup contact would be most effective in reducing prejudice when several conditions were met. These included things like the groups having similar status, interests, and tasks; the individuals involved not behaving in a way consistent with stereotypes of their group; and the situation encouraging close personal contact between members of the different groups. In his book The Nature of Prejudice, published in 1954, Gordon Allport built on this work and argued that contact between members of previously separate, unequal, and even hostile groups could improve relations between them if the contact situation was characterized by

• equal status within the situation for members of all groups,
• cooperation toward common goals, and
• the support of relevant authorities, law, or custom for positive intergroup relations.

Results of Research Stimulated by Contact Theory

This approach to understanding the factors likely to influence the outcomes of intergroup contact has been extremely influential. For example, a large number of experimental studies were conducted in the United States and elsewhere to test whether a variety of classroom practices designed to get students from different backgrounds to work cooperatively to achieve shared goals in a context that also supported equal status would result in more positive intergroup relations. These practices, including those known as the Jigsaw Classroom and the Teams-Games Tournament approach, did indeed improve intergroup relations, as well as commonly improving the achievement of the initially lower-achieving students.

More recently, a meta-analysis by Thomas F. Pettigrew and Linda R. Tropp of more than 500 studies conducted in a variety of social contexts with many different in-groups and out-groups has also lent support to contact theory. Specifically, this meta-analytic work demonstrated that intergroup contact typically, though not always, reduces prejudice and that the conditions under which the contact occurs impact the direction and the amount of change. Studies in which most of the conditions specified by Allport were met demonstrated a larger positive impact than did studies of contact under other conditions.

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