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Comparing story reading and video watching as two distinct forms of vicarious contact: An experimental intervention among elementary school children

Comparing story reading and video watching as two distinct forms of vicarious contact: An experimental intervention among elementary school children

Cocco, Veronica Margherita, Bisagno, Elisa, Di Bernardo, Gian Antonio, Cadamuro, Alessia, Crapolicchio, Eleonora, Riboldi, Sara Debora, Trifiletti, Elena, Stathi, Sofia ORCID: 0000-0002-1218-5239 and Vezzali, Loris (2020) Comparing story reading and video watching as two distinct forms of vicarious contact: An experimental intervention among elementary school children. British Journal of Social Psychology, 60. pp. 74-94. ISSN 0144-6665 (Print), 2044-8309 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12404)

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Abstract

Research has shown that vicarious contact, that is observing an interaction between ingroup and outgroup members, can improve intergroup relations. Although vicarious contact has been operationalized in different ways, mainly via story reading or video watching, an experimental comparison of these different strategies is still missing. We conducted a school intervention with the aim of comparing the two most used forms of vicarious contact, namely story reading and video watching. Elementary schoolchildren without disabilities (N = 292) were assigned to one of three different conditions: reading a story; watching a video; control. In the two vicarious contact conditions, participants read or watched the story of a child with disability becoming friends with children without disabilities; in the control condition, participants only completed the dependent measures. Results revealed that, in general, both vicarious contact conditions were equally effective in improving outgroup attitudes and behavioural intentions. In addition, they operated with the same strength through the same underlying processes (IOS, ingroup norms). We discuss theoretical and practical implications in the context of vicarious contact as a prejudice-reduction intervention.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: vicarious contact, intergroup contact, children, attitudes, prejudice
Subjects: L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1501 Primary Education
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group: Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences
Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development
Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Inequalities
Related URLs:
Last Modified: 10 Aug 2021 15:22
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/33107

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