New Directions in the Study of Intergroup Relations (Virtual Session)

Session Submission Type: Virtual Full Paper Panel

Session Description

The study of intergroup relations – a long-standing focus of scholarly interest – continues to pose challenging questions. Methodological developments and innovative designs allow scholars of comparative and American politics to shed further light on the dynamics that breed intergroup prejudice and discrimination, and ways to facilitate more favorable societal outcomes. Our panel brings together scholars who leverage a wide range of theoretical and methodological approaches to explore and answer such questions. Danny Choi will present results from a three-wave panel survey among a nationally representative sample of Kenyans, assessing the extent to which prejudice-reducing interventions and attitudes toward LGBT+ individuals are conditioned by the decisions of state institutions. Nejla Asimovic will present results from an online field experiment which explores the effect of reducing the language barrier on Facebook between members of ethnically polarized groups. Laura Paler will present a study which leverages reality TV content, to examine the role of parasocial and vicarious contact in shaping racial prejudice in the U.S. Finally, Chagai Weiss will present results from a series of field experiments, testing the effects of an educational intervention on Jewish children’s prejudice towards outgroups, and their support for diversity. 

Sub Unit

• Division 51: Experimental Research

Individual Presentations

• LGBT+ Tolerance: The Impact of Judicial Decisions and Social Campaigns in Africa - Donghyun Danny Choi, Brown University; Leonardo R. Arriola, University of California, Berkeley; Matthew K Gichohi, Chr. Michelsen Institute; Siri Gloppen, University of Bergen; Malcolm Langford, University of Oslo

• Reducing Language Barriers Online: Evidence from Cyprus - Nejla Asimovic, NYU

• How Mediated Contact Affects Prejudice: A Married at First Sight Experiment - Laura Paler, American University; Kyle Gray, American University School of Public Affairs

• A Scalable Classroom Intervention to Reduce Prejudice in Divided Societies - Chagai Weiss, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Eran Halperin, Interdisciplinary Center

Chair

• Yang-Yang Zhou Dartmouth College

Discussants

• Yang-Yang Zhou Dartmouth College

• Melissa Sands London School of Economics