Contact Hypothesis

Formulating a Theory

Proponents of the contact hypothesis argue that intergroup contact reduces prejudiced attitudes and discriminatory behavior by affecting stereotyping. Negative stereotypes are seen as nurtured by social isolation and diffused by personal acquaintance. In his original formulation of the contact hypothesis, Gordon Allport carefully restricted his definition of prejudice to those cases in which there was no basis for intergroup hostility arising from real conflict. He regarded the clashes of interests and values that do occur to not be in and of themselves instances of prejudice. Rather, he argued that a group that one is prejudiced toward does not actually have the negative traits one attributes to it. Although contact would aid in the dissolution of these negative stereotypes, it would not resolve antagonisms anchored in real conflict, whether material or cultural. Allport's restrictive definition of prejudice and his insistence on treating prejudice and real conflict differently has generally been ignored as contact theory has expanded.

Allport and subsequent scholars expanded the basic contact hypothesis in order to account for the contingencies in which contact may or may not reduce prejudice. Thomas Pettigrew, a leading contact theorist, pointed out that more intergroup contact can lead either to greater prejudice and rejection or to greater respect and acceptance, depending upon the situation in which it occurs. The basic issue, he argued, concerns identifying the kinds of situations in which contact leads to harmony rather than disharmony. A large number of different mediating variables have been suggested by different contact theorists, but four major variables have been repeatedly cited as representing the “optimal conditions” for reducing intergroup prejudice: (1) equal status between the groups in the situation, (2) no competition between groups, (3) common goals, [Page 331]and (4) the presence of social norms supporting inter-group contact.

By putting some qualifications on the basic contact hypothesis, advocates of the expanded hypothesis sought to overcome the most damaging objections (i.e., numerous cases where greater intergroup contact seemed to foster greater conflict) without abandoning the underlying ideas of the simple hypothesis. Having outlined the optimal conditions, research largely turned its attention to what situations fostered the right kind of contact and how to ensure that the situations in which contact already occurs would foster positive effects.

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