ABSTRACT

For the past half-century, the Contact Hypothesis (Allport, 1954; Cook, 1985) has been a guiding framework for strategies designed to reduce intergroup bias and conflict. This hypothesis proposes that simple contact between groups is not sufficient to improve intergroup relations. Rather, to reduce bias, certain conditions within the contact situation, such as equal status, personal interaction, cooperative interdependence, and supportive norms (see Pettigrew, 1998) must be met.