Reducing explicit and implicit prejudice toward disabled colleagues: Effects of contact and membership salience in the workplace

In the present study, membership salience was tested as a moderator of the effects of contact on emotions and explicit and implicit attitudes toward the disabled. Participants were non-disabled employees of firms and cooperative societies; they worked in contact with colleagues with psychiatric problems. Results indicated that quantity and quality of contact improved outgroup evaluations, both within and outside the contact situation. Consistent with intergroup contact theory (Brown & Hewstone, 2005), the positive effects of contact on anxiety and empathy toward disabled colleagues generalized to the whole category of the disabled when group distinctions were salient within the contact setting. Notably, frequent and cooperative contact also reduced implicit prejudice toward the general disabled category. Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed.