Contact And Conflict In Intergroup Encounters

Author : Rico Neumann
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 235 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (128 download)

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Download or read book Identities that Divide, Identities that Unite written by Rico Neumann and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Media messages help construct and express intergroup perceptions, define boundaries between ingroups and outgroups, and shape a sense of belonging to social groups. Drawing upon social psychology, intergroup and mass communication, this study focuses on Muslims, a group that has been increasingly targeted by hate crimes in many Western contexts and understudied in the intergroup relations literature. Given how most U.S. Americans do not personally know a Muslim, those with little direct experience with Muslims often rely on media content to better understand this group, thereby giving media outlets the power to frame such intergroup relations. This study integrates two fruitful theoretical perspectives to better understand the role of news media in portraying and shaping Muslim/non-Muslim relations. First, intergroup contact theory rests on the idea that contact between groups can reduce prejudice and bias. Contrary to a well-established body of scholarship on direct, face-to-face contact, a specific form of indirect contact remains underexplored: vicarious intergroup contact. Influenced by work on parasocial relationships with media characters, this form of mediated contact involves situations in which one observes ingroup members interacting with outgroup members via media, thus giving audience members an opportunity to learn about others. Second, social identity theory is used to explain individual attitudes and behaviors vis-Ã -vis particular social groups one values and identifies with. One way to reduce intergroup bias and conflict is to emphasize a common ingroup identity, a process also known as recategorizing from two groups to one group. Making a shared, superordinate social identity, like national identity, more salient in a media context may activate certain identity processes, improve intergroup attitudes, and reduce intergroup conflict. To examine how vicarious intergroup (i.e., Muslim/non-Muslim) contact and a common (i.e., U.S.-American) ingroup identity (1) are portrayed in media content and (2) shape orientations toward the (Muslim) outgroup, a systematic content analysis of articles in U.S. newspapers and an experiment were conducted. Results of the content analysis reveal that dyadic or group portrayals (i.e., encounters involving Muslims and non-Muslims) are fairly rare in contrast to individual representations of Muslims. When intergroup encounters are present (N = 307), they are primarily found in the newspapers' foreign news sections and typically take place in settings shaped by conflict rather than support. Thus the tone used to portray the encounters, particularly their outcomes, is generally negative. This pattern is more pronounced for national than local papers. Muslims, as part of those encounters, are typically portrayed as having little or no agency over the interaction. Muslims' social identities, especially American national and occupational identities, are more salient in intergroup portrayals in local and regional rather than national newspapers. To examine media effects of vicarious contact experiences involving Muslims, two aspects were experimentally manipulated: the valence of the outcome of the intergroup encounter (positive/neutral/negative) and the salience of the common ingroup identity (salient versus nonsalient U.S. national identity). Based on a large sample (N = 687) and an array of multivariate techniques, findings indicate that positively framed news portrayals of Muslim/non-Muslim encounters increase non-Muslims' willingness to engage with Muslims. This relationship remains significant even after controlling for various third variables (e.g., prior contact, ideology, identity importance) and is partly mediated by interest in learning more about the outgroup. The more positive the vicarious contact experience, the more interested individuals tend to be in learning more about Islam and Muslims more generally. Underlying social identity motivations regarding media use (i.e., using intergroup media content for social uncertainty reduction and social enhancement) can be important drivers for increasing interest and contact willingness. Contrary to expectations, using a common-identity approach by making U.S.-American national identity more salient in news about intergroup encounters involving Muslims does not moderate the effects on non-Muslims' willingness to engage with Muslims. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of key findings, situating them in their theoretical and sociopolitical context; study limitations and directions for future research; and a set of ideas to reduce bias and improve intergroup relations from a news media perspective.