Intergroup Contact With Refugees Shapes Levels of Social Fear of Crime

ABSTRACT Intergroup contact affects how people see the world more broadly. Across four studies ( N total = 1,743), we tested whether valenced intergroup contact with refugees as a criminally stigmatized group affects social fear of crime mediated by prejudice. Studies 1 (cross‐sectional) and 2 (longitudinal) showed an indirect effect of positive contact on social fear of crime via reduced prejudice and an opposite indirect effect of negative contact. Studies 3–4 (experiments) provided a causal test of our prediction. Study 3's mediation results were non‐significant. Study 4's were and showed that positive contact effects on social fear of crime were mediated via crime‐related prejudice towards refugees, a highly criminally stigmatized group, yet not via crime‐related prejudice towards homosexual people, a less criminally stigmatized group. We contributed by providing the first causal evidence that positive contact is an intervention strategy to reduce social fear of crime and expand the growing literature on transfer effects of intergroup contact.