In researching for my final blog which is on the contact hypothesis (frequent contact with other groups results in a reduction of intergroup prejudice under certain conditions) I have found a lot of information which suggests that close intergroup friendships can result in considerable reduction in prejudice towards the whole group... This research has personal meaning to me because my best friend is Asian (I'm Australian with an English background) and I wonder if my best friend was not Asian would I be more prejudiced towards Asian people... I like to think not but who knows???
Researchers have suggested that friendships promote equality between the friends, intimacy and a positive interaction with an outgroup member (which are some of the optimal contact conditions) and allow individuals to gain information about the outgroups experiences, lifestyles etc which causes the ingroup member to reject any existing stereotypical views towards the group and make positive generalizations about the entire group. research has found that individuals with one close friend from a different group are less prejudiced towards that group than individuals without such a relationship (forgive I don't have the reference but ask me of your interested and I'll find it).
But I was just wondering... Is this only applicable in countries that are highly multicultural and promote intergroup relationships? And what about in places where there is a long negative history of prejudice and ongoing conflict like Israel and Palestine? Because of the history and conflict in such places it is unlikely that individuals will form a friendships with members of the other group. We also learned that people seek out relationships with people who are similar to them in race, religion, SES etc which in theory makes intergroup friendships rare and unlikely...
I'd be really interested to hear people's opinions on this matter..
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment