Imagined intergroup contact (Crisp & Turner, 2009) is a new cognitive intervention designed to improve intergroup relations. In two studies, we examined whether it could also facilitate intercultural communication among international students and host country natives engaged in a college exchange program. In Study 1, international students who had recently arrived in Italy and participated in an imagined contact session displayed increased self-disclosure toward, and improved evaluation of, host country natives. In Study 2, Italian students mentally simulated positive contact with an unknown native from the host country prior to leaving for the exchange. Results from an online questionnaire administered on their return (on average, more than 7 months after the imagery task) revealed that participants who imagined contact reported spending more time with natives during the stay and enhanced outgroup evaluation, via reduced intergroup anxiety. Implications for enhancing the quality and effectiveness of college student exchange programs are discussed.
AllportG. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. New York, NY: Addison-Wesley.
2.
Benet-MartínezV.LeeF.LeuJ. (2006). Biculturalism and cognitive complexity: Expertise in cultural representations. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 37, 386–407. doi:10.1177/0022022106288476
3.
BowmanN. A. (2010). College diversity experiences and cognitive development: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 80, 4–33. doi:10.3102/0034654309352495
4.
CrispR. J.HusnuS. (2011). Attributional processes underlying imagined contact effects. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 14, 275–287. doi:10.1177/1368430210390721
5.
CrispR. J.HusnuS.MeleadyR.StathiS.TurnerR. N. (2010). From imagery to intention: A dual route model of imagined contact effects. European Review of Social Psychology, 21, 188–236. doi:10.1080/10463283.2010.543312
6.
CrispR. J.TurnerR. N. (2009). Can imagined contact interactions produce positive perceptions? Reducing prejudice through simulated social contact. American Psychologist, 64, 231–240. doi:10.1037/a0014718
7.
CrispR. J.TurnerR. N. (2011). Cognitive adaptation to the experience of social and cultural diversity. Psychological Bulletin, 137, 242–266. doi:10.1037/a0021840
8.
CrispR. J.TurnerR. N. (2012). The imagined contact hypothesis. In OlsonJ. M.ZannaM. P. (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 125–182). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
9.
GurinP.DeyE. L.HurtadoS.GurinG. (2002). Diversity and higher education: Theory and impact on educational outcomes. Harvard Educational Review, 72, 330–366.
10.
HaddockG.ZannaM. P.EssesV. M. (1993). Assessing the structure of prejudicial attitudes: The case of attitudes toward homosexuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1105–1118. doi:10.1037/0022–3514.65.6.1105
11.
HodsonG.HewstoneM. (Eds.). (2013). Advances in intergroup contact. New York, NY: Psychology Press.
12.
HuL.BentlerP. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55. doi:10.1080/10705519909540118
13.
HusnuS.CrispR. J. (2010). Elaboration enhances the imagined contact effect. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 943–950. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.05.014
14.
HusnuS.CrispR. J. (2011). Enhancing the imagined contact effect. Journal of Social Psychology, 151, 113–116. doi:10.1080/00224541003599043
15.
JöreskogK. G.SörbomD. (2004). LISREL 8.7 for Windows [Computer software]. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International.
16.
KlinebergO.HullW. F. (1979). At a foreign university: An international study of adaptation and coping. New York, NY: Praeger.
17.
MadduxW. W.AdamH.GalinskyA. D. (2010). When in Rome… Learn why the Romans do what they do: How multicultural learning experiences facilitate creativity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 731–741. doi:10.1177/0146167210367786
18.
McGuireW. J.McGuireC. V.ChildP.FujiokaT. (1978). Salience of ethnicity in the spontaneous self-concept as a function of one’s ethnic distinctiveness in the social environment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 511–520. doi:10.1037/0022–3514.36.5.511
19.
MilesE.CrispR. J. (2014). A meta-analytic test of the imagined contact hypothesis. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 17, 3–26. doi:10.1177/1368430213510573.
20.
PaigeR. M. (1990). International students: Cross-cultural psychological perspectives. In BrislinR. W. (Ed.), Applied cross-cultural psychology: Cross-cultural research and methodology series (pp. 367–382). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
21.
PedersenP. B. (1991). Counseling international students. Counseling Psychologist, 19, 10–58. doi:10.1177/0011000091191002
22.
PettigrewT. F.TroppL. (2011). When groups meet: The dynamics of intergroup contact. New York, NY: Psychology Press.
23.
SassenbergK.MatschkeC. (2010). The impact of exchange programs on the integration of the hostgroup into the self-concept. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 148–159. doi:10.1002/ejsp.621
24.
SchwarzerR.BowlerR.RauchS. (1985). Psychological indicators of acculturation: Self-esteem, racial tension and inter-ethnic contact. In EkstrandL. (Ed.), Ethnic minorities and immigrants in a cross-cultural perspective (pp. 211–229). Lisse, the Netherlands: Swets and Zeitlinger.
25.
SigalasE. (2010). Cross-border mobility and European identity: The effectiveness of intergroup contact during the Erasmus year abroad. European Union Politics, 11, 241–265. doi:10.1177/1465116510363656
26.
SimontonD. K. (1999). Origins of genius: Darwinian perspectives on creativity. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
27.
Spencer-RodgersJ.McGovernT. (2002). Attitudes toward the culturally different: The role of intercultural communication barriers, affective responses, consensual stereotypes, and perceived threat. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 26, 609–631. doi:10.1016/S0147–1767(02)00038-X
28.
StangorC.JonasK.StroebeW.HewstoneM. (1996). Development and change of national stereotypes and attitudes. European Journal of Social Psychology, 26, 663–675. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099–0992(199607)26:4<663::AID-EJSP778>3.0.CO;2–6
29.
StathiS.CrispR. (2008). Imagining intergroup contact promotes projection to outgroups. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 943–957. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2008.02.003
30.
StephanW. G.StephanC. W. (1985). Intergroup anxiety. Journal of Social Issues, 41, 157–175. doi:10.1111/j.1540–4560.1985.tb01134.x
31.
StroebeW.LenkertA.JonasK. (1988). Familiarity may breed contempt: The impact of student exchange on national stereotypes and attitudes. In StroebeW.KruglanskiA. W.Bar-TalD.HewstoneM. (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup conflict. Theory, research and applications (pp. 167–187). Berlin, Germany: Springer.
32.
TurnerR. N.CrispR. J. (2010). Imagining intergroup contact reduces implicit prejudice. British Journal of Social Psychology, 49, 129–142. doi:10.1348/014466609X419901
33.
TurnerR. N.HewstoneM.VociA. (2007). Reducing explicit and implicit outgroup prejudice via direct and extended contact: The mediating role of self-disclosure and intergroup anxiety. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 369–388. doi:10.1037/0022–3514.93.3.369
34.
TurnerR. N.WestK. (2012). Behavioural consequences of imagining intergroup contact with stigmatized outgroups. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 15, 193–202. doi:10.1177/1368430211418699
35.
UKCOSA. (2004). International students in UK universities and colleges. Broadening our horizons. Report of the UKCOSA survey. Retrieved from http://www.ukcosa.org.uk/survey/report.pdf
36.
VezzaliL.CapozzaD.GiovanniniD.StathiS. (2012). Improving explicit and implicit intergroup attitudes using imagined contact: An experimental intervention with elementary school children. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 15, 203–212. doi:10.1177/1368430211424920
37.
VezzaliL.CapozzaD.StathiS.GiovanniniD. (2012). Increasing outgroup trust, reducing infrahumanization, and enhancing future contact intentions via imagined intergroup contact. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 437–440. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2011.09.008
38.
VezzaliL.StathiS.CrispR. J.GiovanniniD.CapozzaD.GaertnerS. L. (2014). Imagined intergroup contact and common ingroup identity: An integrative approach. Manuscript submitted for publication.
39.
WrightS. C.AronA.McLaughlin-VolpeT.RoppS. A (1997). The extended contact effect: Knowledge of cross-group friendships and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 73–90. doi:10.1037/0022–3514.73.1.73
