Contact Models and Intergroup Relations in an Italian Area Bordering on Austria
Year: 2007
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: In this study, we analyzed the efficacy of certain contact modes to improve relationships between the Italian and German linguistic group in the Bolzano Province (South Tyrol). In this Province — with an autonomous statute, and annexed to Italy in 1919 — the German group represents the majority and dominant group. The encounter modes evaluated were those conceptualized by the intergroup contact theory (Brown & Hewstone, 2005), the common ingroup identity model (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000), the dual identity model (Gaertner, Riek, Mania, & Dovidio, in press). Participants were Italian students, born and living in South Tyrol; they attended senior high school in the city of Bolzano. A questionnaire was used. We found that the cooperative contact benefits were generalized from the proximal members to the distal outgroup: contact fostered empathy, reduced anxiety, and ingroup bias. These effects, however, were generally not moderated by the contact modes evaluated. We discussed the interest of studying the effects of cross-group friendships in this social context.
Institution: University of Padua
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2241262882