ABSTRACT
Although much research has focused on communication between various types of groups, little research has focused exclusively on interreligious communication per se (see Klocek, Novoa, & Moghaddam, 2010). Interreligious communication can take diverse forms. In this chapter, we focus primarily on aspects of communication that take place between members of different religious groups who are defining themselves in terms of that membership. Some of the discussion will relate, however, to communication within a religious group about members of a different religious group. Contact between different religious groups is often a precursor for interreligious communication and there is compelling evidence of the overall positive effect of contact on intergroup attitudes (for a meta-analysis, see Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006). Intergroup contact, however, is not always possible or essential for intergroup communication (see Chapters 13 & 14, this volume). We, therefore, outline modes of interreligious communication that can occur in person and those that can also occur via the media.
