NEW STUDY IN NATURE REVIEWS PSYCHOLOGY: WHY INTERGROUP CONTACT IS OFTEN NOT ENOUGH
A new study, “Towards a habit-rupture model of intergroup contact in everyday settings,” has been published in the prestigious journal Nature Reviews Psychology. One of its co-authors is also a researcher from Research Objective 2 (VZ2), Prof. Silvie Graf. The study offers a new perspective on how contact between people from different social groups functions in everyday life.
The international team of authors shows that most research has so far focused on positive and structured forms of intergroup contact. In everyday reality, however, contact is often accidental, brief and sometimes unpleasant — and such experiences may lead people to avoid further encounters and to develop stable prejudices.
The study introduces the concept of contact habits, describing how people gradually form “contact bubbles” — stable patterns of interaction (or avoidance) in which attitudes change very little over time.
At the same time, the authors show that change occurs mainly during periods of so-called ruptures — turning-point situations that disrupt established routines, for example when starting university, changing jobs or during societal crises. It is precisely at these moments that intergroup contact has the greatest potential to lead to attitude change.
The study thus offers a realistic framework for understanding intergroup relations and indicates when and how it makes sense to actively support contact.
