Interracial Contact and the Reduction of Prejudice

The idea that interracial can be effective in reducing racial pre judice, often referred to as the contact hypothesis, has long been of in terest to researchers and other students of race relations. Studies which have attempted to test the hypothesis date back to at least 1943 (Smith, 1943) and are too numerous to be reviewed here.1 Suffice it to say that these studies have shown that does not always improve racial attitudes. This fact has long been recognized by scholars ? Robin Williams (1947) was one of the earliest ? who have theorized about the types of that are effective. However, few empirical studies have been much con cerned with testing these theories.2 If the interracial research has been rather unsophisticated and lacking in rigor, the same might be said for the theories. There has been relatively little theoretical advancement since Allport's discussion of the matter in The Nature of Prejudice (1954), some twenty years ago. In fact, in a recent highly charged controversy over the effects of busing for school integration (Amor, 1972; Armor, 1973; Pettigrew et al.9 1973), Allport's theory is treated as though it were the final and only theo ry of intergroup contact. However, the conditions of Allport's theory and the reason for its validity are not altogether clear. It is also not the only possible theoretical perspective on interracial contact. In this paper I shall try to clarify Allport's theory and then advance another theory bas ed upon Sherifs (1958) theory of superordinate goals. In discussing these theories I shall attempt to clarify the mechanisms by which certain types of reduce prejudice. And finally, I shall try to specify the types of pre judice (there are different types of prejudice as well as different types of con tact) for which each theory is effective. Although the discussion will be in terms of interracial contact, there is no inherent reason why the theo ries are not applicable to intergroup in general.