tpmcommercenew

Voci, A., & Pagotto, L.

Mediated moderation in the relation between contact and prejudice reduction: The role of intergroup anxiety and prototypicality

In this study we examine the process that links intergroup contact to prejudice reduction, considering the relation between Italians and immigrants. In particular, we test whether the effect of contact is moderated by group salience and mediated by intergroup anxiety, and whether this process corresponds to a mediated moderation or to a moderated mediation. Moreover, as moderators we will consider different types of group salience: comparative fit, self-prototypicality and prototypicality of the known immigrants. The results are consistent with a mediated moderation process: a frequent and positive contact is effective in reducing prejudice when the known immigrants are perceived as prototypical of their group, and this relation is mediated by intergroup anxiety. In particular, in the mediated moderation analysis, it turns out that the moderation concerns the link between contact and anxiety.

Back