Reducing Prejudice Through Narrative Writing: The Effects of Contact Type and Linguistic Authenticity

Abstract

This study investigates how the content and style of narrative writing about an outgroup reduce prejudice. The study compares cooperative contact, where writers describe working with an outgroup character, with parasocial contact, where writers describe the character alone. It further examines whether the contact effects vary with linguistic authenticity. In two experiments, I manipulated the types of contact and measured authenticity through language patterns. Study 1 (N = 719) found that having contact with an outgroup character elicited more positive affect toward the character, which reduced the desire for distance from the outgroup. Cooperative and parasocial contact showed similar effects, but their impacts varied with linguistic authenticity. Authentic language was associated with stronger impacts in cooperative contact but not in parasocial contact. Study 2 (N = 287) replicated that linguistic authenticity moderated the effect of cooperative contact on affect toward the character. These findings highlight linguistic dynamics in intergroup contact.