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Reducing prejudice toward Syrian refugee children: A vicarious contact intervention among Turkish elementary school children
Author(s) -
Tercan Mustafa,
Bisagno Elisa,
Cocco Veronica Margherita,
Kaçmaz Tarkan,
Turnuklu Abbas,
Stathi Sofia,
Vezzali Loris
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.22480
Subject(s) - turkish , psychology , outgroup , prejudice (legal term) , developmental psychology , intervention (counseling) , test (biology) , social psychology , eye contact , qualitative property , refugee , paleontology , philosophy , linguistics , history , archaeology , machine learning , psychiatry , computer science , biology
Abstract We conducted an experimental intervention to test the effectiveness of vicarious contact in the relationship between Turkish and Syrian elementary school children; the participants were Turkish children. We used a mixed‐methods approach, investigating effects by using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Participants in the experimental condition were asked to read stories on positive contact between Turkish and Syrian children over the course of six weekly sessions. The results revealed that vicarious contact, compared to a control condition where participants did not engage in any activity, led to greater intentions to help outgroup members. Importantly, effects only emerged among children who reported higher initial negative outgroup attitudes. Results from qualitative data revealed that vicarious contact produced richer, more positive, and complex representations of the relationships and friendships between groups. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.