Reducing explicit and implicit prejudice toward disabled: The role of a common ingroup identity

We tested for the first time the role of a common ingroup identity (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000) in moderating the effects of contact on explicit and implicit attitudes held by non-disabled toward disabled. The research was conducted in a Northern Italian city. Participants were 74 non-disabled employees of firms and cooperative societies, who worked in contact with colleagues withpsychiatric problems. Participants answered a questionnaire concerning relations with both outgroup members involved in contact and the category of disabled. Furthermore, a measure of implicit attitude toward the general category of disabled was included (GNAT; Nosek & Banaji, 2001). The hypothesis was that quantity, but especially quality of contact, would improve the relations with known disabled, and this effect would generalize to unknown members of outgroup. In addition, we expected that contact effects would be more intense for those with strongerperceptions of being members of a superordinate category, including disabled and non-disabled. To test the hypotheses, hierarchical regression was applied. Results indicated that quality of contact, rather than quantity, was especially relevant in improving intergroup relations. The moderating role of the common ingroup identity was evident in particular for the implicit measure: quality of contact reduced implicit prejudice only when frequent contact was associated with high levels of common identity. Results are discussed in terms of importance of fostering one-group perceptions to reduce prejudice, and in terms of theneed to consider both explicit and implicit measures, in contact research.