Toward a comprehensive understanding of intergroup contact: Descriptions and mediators of positive and negative contact among majority and minority groups

Positive contact predicts reduced prejudice,but negative contact may increase prejudice at a stronger rate. the current project builds on this work in four ways: establishing an understanding of contact that is grounded insubjective experience,examining the affective mediators involved in the negative contact-prejudice relationship,extending research on the effects of positive and negative contact to minority groups,and examining the contact asymmetry experimentally. study 1 introduced anger as a mediator of the relationships between positive and negative contact and prejudice among white americans (n = 371),using a contact measure that reflected the frequency and intensity of a wide range of experiences. study 2 found a contact asymmetry among black and hispanic americans (n = 365). study 3 found initial experimental evidence of a contact asymmetry (n = 309). we conclude by calling for a more nuanced understanding of intergroup contact that recognizes its multifaceted and subjective nature. © 2017 by the society for personality and social psychology,inc.