Deeper look into deprovincialization hypothesis: the mediating role of ingroup identification in contact-prejudice association

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b3199892

Deprovincialization hypothesis of intergroup contact has great potential to demonstrate favorable effects of contact in improving intergroup attitudes, yet previous studies did not find a consistent relationship between contact and deprovincialization. With two studies, I aimed to investigate if the multicomponent model of ingroup identification and deprovincialization mediates contact - prejudice link. Study 1 involved two serial mediation models including first the components of ingroup identification in parallel and deprovincialization in sequel; second, satisfaction and collective narcissism in parallel and deprovincialization in sequel, in the association between contact and attitudes (N = 315, Mage = 33.96, SDage = 13.15). Results indicated that only the centrality component mediated contact and attitudes through deprovincialization. Also, collective narcissism but not satisfaction mediated this association via deprovincialization. Study 2 (N = 144, Mage = 21.69, SDage = 2.56) aimed to replicate Study 1 with imagined contact manipulation, yet the models did not show the previous effects with the use of imagined contact with Syrians. Findings emphasized the deprovincializing role of centrality and collective narcissism in association with more positive outgroup attitudes.