ABSTRACT
Empirical research on intergroup contact has a long history, dating back to the 1940s (e.g., Williams, 1947). Since the seminal chapter on intergroup contact by Gordon Allport (1954), in his famous book The Nature of Prejudice, hundreds of research papers and book chapters have been published. The meta-analytic summary of 515 studies by Pettigrew and Tropp (2006) provided ample evidence that intergroup contact is capable of reducing prejudice, particularly when certain facilitating factors (i.e., common goals, cooperation, equal status, and institutional support) are present. While “there is little need to demonstrate further contact’s general ability to lessen prejudice” (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006, p. 768), intergroup contact theory is still advancing in new directions, as documented by the chapters of this volume. Research on intergroup contact has, however, not been without its critics. Most of the critiques relate to methodological issues, such as measurement problems, the question of causality, and the disregard of the social context. Our aim in this chapter is, first, to consider some of these critiques in more detail. Following that, we will outline, from a methodological point of view, the ways in which we think the next generation of intergroup contact research can face these challenges.
