Imagined contact among minority group members: A comparison of majority and interminority contact

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b2578316_(Table of contents)

Imagined contact literature is vast, yet research focusing on minority status group members is scarce, while interminority imagined contact research does not exist. This research investigated Kurdish participants’ imagined contact with Turkish majority and Syrian minority groups in Turkey. Study I, surveying 108 self-identified Kurds (50 females, 58 males; M age = 26.46, SD age = 7.60) examined imagined contact effects on ingroup identification, outgroup attitudes, relative deprivation, and perceived discrimination. Contact had a significant effect on ingroup identification and only an approached significant effect on attitudes. Accordingly, interminority contact (but not contact with the majority) increased ingroup identification and seemed to lead to improved outgroup attitudes towards Syrians. For Study II, which was a qualitative study, 10 self-identified Kurds (8 females, 2 males) were interviewed. Qualitative analyses revealed differences between residents of Eastern and Western cities with regard to the same dependent variables. Kurds from the East reported higher ingroup identification, relative deprivation, and perceived discrimination, especially after imagining contact with the Turkish outgroup. Empathy towards Syrians and getting accepted by Turks have become the prevailing themes in Study II. Results of two studies were evaluated comparatively. Limitations and future research prospects were discussed