Can Social Contact Reduce Prejudice and Discrimination? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Nigeria

• Published in: The American political science review Vol. 112; no. 3; pp. 654 - 677
• Main Authors: SCACCO, ALEXANDRA, WARREN, SHANA S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.08.2018
• Subjects: Attitudes; Behavior; Behavior Change; Behavioral Science Research; Behavioral Sciences; Bias; Christian Islamic relations; Christianity; Classism; Classrooms; Community Action; Computers; Discrimination; Education; Evidence; Experimental methods; Ghettos; Group dynamics; Group identity; Heterogeneity; Heterogeneous Grouping; Homogeneity; Hypotheses; Intergroup Relations; Intervention; Job training; Men; Minority & ethnic violence; Muslims; Observational studies; Peace; Political science; Politics; Prejudice; Prone; Racial Integration; Religion; Research Design; Research methodology; Residential Patterns; Resistance (Psychology); Riots; School Desegregation; Social contact; Social groups; Social Psychology; Social Sciences; University students; Urban schools; Vocational Education; Young men; Youth; Nigeria; Bosnia-Hercegovina
• ISSN: 0003-0554; 1537-5943; 1537-5943
• DOI: 10.1017/S0003055418000151

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.