Mixed Evidence for Interactive Effects of Outgroup Proportions and Intergroup Contact on Racial Bias in the United States

Abstract

Dominant majority-group members living in areas with larger proportions of outgroup members tend to express more ingroup bias. However, prior research has rarely considered this in tandem with the bias-reducing effects of intergroup contact or tested whether outgroup proportions have similar effects for oppressed minority-group members. In two preregistered studies, we tested whether contact moderates the association between outgroup proportions and ingroup bias among White and Black Americans (total N > 75,000). As hypothesized, more Black residents in an area predicted greater explicit (but not implicit) ingroup bias among White respondents who reported low (but not high) contact with Black people. By contrast, more White residents in an area predicted lower explicit (but not implicit) ingroup bias among Black respondents regardless of intergroup contact with White people. We qualify previous findings by demonstrating that the association between outgroup proportions and ingroup bias depends on one’s group membership and level of intergroup contact.