– Author reports a randomized controlled trial that assigns repeated intergroup contact between members of different ethnic groups. The contact results in exclusionary attitudes toward the outgroup.
– This experiment demonstrates that even very minor demographic
change causes strong exclusionary reactions.
– Exclusionary attitudes can be stimulated by even very minor, noninvasive demographic change: in this case, the introduction of only two persons. Overtly threatening behavior by newcomers is not a necessary component for the stimulation of exclusionary attitudes.
– Developed nations and politically liberal subnational units are expected to experience a politically conservative shift as international migration brings increased intergroup contact.
2014 - Causal effect of intergroup contact on exclusionary attitudes
Integroup of Group threat and contact —the casual presence of outsiders causes an exclusionary reaction, perhaps because of the activation of negative stereotypes.
– The experiment was conducted in the Boston, MA
– The experiment leveraged the tendency for commuters to ride
the same train every day.
-The author treated certain trains by assigning pairs of Spanish-speaking persons to visit the same train stations at the same time every day.
-Within each train station, these experimental confederates were the same persons every day. Other trains were randomly assigned to the control condition and had no intervention at the stations.
– Subjects were surveyed about their socio-political attitudes before and after the treatment.
Dvs:
– “Do you think the number of immigrants from Mexico who
are permitted to come to the United States to live should be
increased, left the same, or decreased?”
– “Would you favor allowing persons that have immigrated to
the United States illegally to remain in the country if they are
employed and have no criminal history?”
– “Some people favor a state law declaring English as the
Official Language. Some other people oppose such a law.
Would you favor such a law?”