The relationship between contact and attitudes: Reducing prejudice toward individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Warm, equal contact with individuals with IDD cuts prejudice, but just being around them can backfire.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Perez et al. (2015) asked 550 adults about their past contact with people who have intellectual or developmental disabilities. The team wanted to know if the amount of contact or the quality of contact shaped prejudice levels.
They used a survey. People rated how often they met individuals with IDD and how warm, equal, and friendly those meetings felt.
What they found
Good-quality contact lowered prejudice. When people felt respected and close during the interaction, their negative views dropped.
Surprise: just seeing lots of individuals with IDD, without warm contact, sometimes made attitudes worse. Quantity without quality backfired.
How this fits with other research
Erickson et al. (2016) found the same pattern using 'closeness' instead of 'quality.' Both studies show the bond, not the head-count, matters.
Chung et al. (2019) seems to disagree. In inclusive high-school classes, students with IDD talked with peers only 25 % of the time. Little real contact = little attitude change. The studies clash only on the surface: schools often give quantity (shared room) without quality (real conversation).
Jameel et al. (2014) reviewed 22 trials and concluded that training plus contact works best when people with IDD help run the session. M et al. now adds the rule: make that contact warm and equal, or it can flop.
Why it matters
When you plan inclusion days, staff training, or buddy programs, schedule activities that let both groups work together on a real task. Check that each learner feels respected and useful. One quick fix: swap passive assemblies for small-group projects like cooking, art, or peer tutoring where real, two-way talk can happen.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Increases in intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) diagnoses coupled with higher rates of inclusion in school and community settings, has created more opportunities for exposure and integration between those with IDD and the mainstream population. Previous research has found that increased contact can lead to more positive attitudes toward those with IDD. The current study further investigated this impact of contact on attitudes by examining the influence of the quality and quantity of contact on both explicit and implicit levels of prejudice, while also considering potential mediation via intergroup anxiety and implicit attitudes. Based on past research and theory, we predicted that contact (especially quality contact) would have a strong relationship with explicit and implicit positive attitudes toward individuals with IDD. In the present study, 550 people completed a survey and short task that measured their level of contact with individuals with IDD across their lifetime, their current attitudes toward these individuals, and other constructs that are thought to influence this relationship. Multiple regression analyses suggested consistent links between higher quality of contact and lower levels of prejudice toward individuals with IDD at both the explicit and implicit levels. After controlling for quality of contact, higher quantity of contact was either not significantly associated with our measures of prejudice or was, importantly, associated with higher levels of prejudice. Additional analyses support intergroup anxiety and implicit positive attitudes as significant mediators in the associations between quality of contact and the various dimensions of explicit prejudice. Thus, it would seem that it is the quality of interpersonal interactions that is most strongly related to positive attitudes toward individuals with IDD, making it crucial to take care when developing inclusion opportunities in community settings.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2015 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2015.07.032