Item Details
Skip Navigation Links
   ActiveUsers:2668Hits:21008102Skip Navigation Links
Show My Basket
Contact Us
IDSA Web Site
Ask Us
Today's News
HelpExpand Help
Advanced search

In Basket
  Journal Article   Journal Article
 

ID160562
Title ProperCan Social Contact Reduce Prejudice and Discrimination? evidence from a Field Experiment in Nigeria
LanguageENG
AuthorSCACCO, ALEXANDRA
Summary / Abstract (Note)Can positive social contact between members of antagonistic groups reduce prejudice and discrimination? Despite extensive research on social contact, observational studies are difficult to interpret because prejudiced people may select out of contact with out-group members. We overcome this problem by conducting an education-based, randomized field experiment—the Urban Youth Vocational Training program (UYVT)—with 849 randomly sampled Christian and Muslim young men in riot-prone Kaduna, Nigeria. After sixteen weeks of positive intergroup social contact, we find no changes in prejudice, but heterogeneous-class subjects discriminate significantly less against out-group members than subjects in homogeneous classes. We trace this finding to increased discrimination by homogeneous-class subjects compared to non-UYVT study participants, and we highlight potentially negative consequences of in-group social contact. By focusing on skill-building instead of peace messaging, our intervention minimizes reporting bias and offers strong experimental evidence that intergroup social contact can alter behavior in constructive ways, even amid violent conflict.
`In' analytical NoteAmerican Political Science Review Vol. 112, No.3; Aug 2018: p.654-677
Journal SourceAmerican Political Science Review 2018-07 112, 3
Key WordsNigeria ;  Social Contact ;  Reduce Prejudice and Discrimination