How Mediated Contact Affects Prejudice: A Married at First Sight Experiment

• In Event: New Directions in the Study of Intergroup Relations (Virtual Session)

Abstract

Evidence suggests that contact with outgroups via television and other forms of mass media has the potential to reduce prejudice and increase support for social change. Yet, understanding the effects of mediated contact is hampered by the fact that it can take two distinct forms: Parasocial contact in which a viewer builds ties to an outgroup character and vicarious contact in which a viewer observes cross-group interaction. This paper disentangles the effects of parasocial and vicarious contact and shed light on the extent to which they operate by changing personal beliefs versus perceived social norms of ingroup behavior. We test the effects of parasocial and vicarious contact on white racial prejudice towards Black Americans using experimental treatments based on the reality television show Married at First Sight, which is uniquely well-suited both to challenging stereotypes and experimental design. Approximately 1600 participants are being recruited into an online survey and randomly assigned to watch embedded mini-seasons of MAFS that vary in the extent to which they facilitate parasocial ties with outgroup characters and feature cross-group friendships. Additionally, we argue that understanding the effects of parasocial and vicarious contact requires examining: (1) their potentially differential effects on 'public' (visible to other ingroup members) versus 'private' outcomes, and (2) the extent to which they can overcome or even reduce the varying effort, material, and social costs of taking action to support social change. We investigate these through additional experiments embedded in our post-treatment data collection.

Authors

• Laura Paler, American University

• Kyle Gray, American University School of Public Affairs