Online contacts supported with recategorization strategies: Do they affect outgroup attitudes and collective action intentions?

Abstract

Studies on face-to-face intergroup contact demonstrate varied effects for members of advantaged and disadvantaged groups on harmonious relations and collective action intentions. This study extends the literature by examining to what extent those effects exist when the contact is online and also by examining which recategorization strategy would be more effective in producing positive outcomes for those groups. For this aim, students of the two universities-CU and ATU (higher and lower status, respectively)-in Adana, Turkey were made to contact in small groups on a text-based online platform. Participants were distributed into four-people groups-either mixed of ATU and CU students or ATU students only. Either a common ingroup identity or dual identities were made salient in the mixed groups, whereas the individual identity was made salient in the groups consisting of ATU students only. Data were collected at three time periods: Two weeks before (368 participants), immediately after (159 participants), and one month after the contact (138 participants). Concerning outgroup attitudes, irrespective of salient identities, mixed groups improved attitudes, sustained in follow-up. Regarding collective action intentions, CU students' intentions increased (T1 to T3), while for ATU students in all groups, intentions decreased-whether cross-group contact was experienced or not.