ABSTRACT
More than 60 years of research have revealed that direct, face-to-face contact between members of different groups, especially when characterized by Allport’s (1954) optimal conditions (i.e. equal status, cooperation, common goals, institutional support), reduces prejudice (Hodson & Hewstone, 2013). However, strategies that seek to utilize direct contact are often difficult to put into practice. For instance, people may lack contact opportunities, especially in segregated, conflictual or post-conflictual contexts (e.g. Psaltis, Pachoulides, Lytras, Philipou, & Beyli, 2011). Moreover, people may resist positive interactions with out-group members due to high levels of initial prejudice or intergroup anxiety (Stathi, Crisp, Turner, West, & Birtel, 2012). In addition, when considering the implementation of direct contact interventions, organizational difficulties can deem them impractical. The review by Paluck and Green (2009) indirectly supports the contention that interventions based on direct contact may be difficult to implement, showing that only 10% of reviewed experimental field studies on prejudice reduction were based on direct contact.
