Renewed Promise for Positive Cross-group Contact: The Role of Supportive Contact in Empowering Collective Action

Authors

Lisa Droogendyk, Simon Fraser UniversityFollow
Winnifred R. Louis, The University of Queensland, Australia
Stephen C. Wright, Simon Fraser University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2016

Keywords

collective action, cross-group contact, intergroup contact, supportive contact, social change

Abstract

Positive cross-group contact can undermine disadvantaged group members' collective action engagement. However, we hypothesized that positive cross-group contact in which an advantaged group member explicitly communicates opposition to inequality between groups ("supportive contact") would not undermine collective action and would be empowering for disadvantaged group members. Study 1 focused on cross-group contact between international students and domestic students at an Australian university. Study 2 focused on immigrants to Canada, and provided an opportunity for a cross-group contact with a Canadian-born individual. The results revealed that supportive contact heightened collective action engagement relative to a number of comparison conditions involving other forms of positive cross-group contact. Increased perceptions of injustice emerged as the key mediator of the relationship between supportive contact and increased collective action engagement.

Comments

23 February 2017: At the time of publication, Sheridan College author Lisa Droogendyk was associated with Simon Fraser University.

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences

School

School of Social and Life Sciences

Journal

Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science

Version

Post-print

Terms of Use

Terms of Use for Works posted in SOURCE.

Copyright

©2016 APA

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Original Publication Citation

Droogendyk, L., Louis, W. R., & Wright, S. C. (2016). Renewed promise for positive cross-group contact: The role of supportive contact in empowering collective action. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 48(4), 317-327. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000058

SOURCE Citation

Droogendyk, Lisa; Louis, Winnifred R.; and Wright, Stephen C., "Renewed Promise for Positive Cross-group Contact: The Role of Supportive Contact in Empowering Collective Action" (2016). Faculty Publications and Scholarship. 6.
https://source.sheridancollege.ca/fhass_soci_publ/6