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Attachment security and intergroup contact
Author(s) -
Boccato Giulio,
Capozza Dora,
Trifiletti Elena,
Di Bernardo Gian Antonio
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/jasp.12325
Subject(s) - prejudice (legal term) , psychology , openness to experience , social psychology , contact hypothesis , outgroup , priming (agriculture) , antecedent (behavioral psychology) , contact theory , insecure attachment , attachment theory , botany , germination , structural engineering , engineering , biology
The contact hypothesis suggests that the interaction between members of different groups decreases prejudice. Moderators and mediators shaping this link have been investigated. However, research about the factors that facilitate contact is not frequent. This article examines secure attachment as an antecedent of contact. Three studies provide information about various aspects of the relationship between secure attachment and contact: security is positively associated with (a) intergroup contact, which in turn is related to reduced prejudice (Study 1); (b) implicit approach tendencies toward the outgroup (Study 2); and, once again, (c) with contact through the indirect effect of openness to exploration (Study 3). In the discussion, we recommend priming both secure and insecure schemas to investigate their unique effects on intergroup contact.