Testing a Brief Classroom-Based Imagined Intergroup Contact Intervention With a Contact-Hurdle Condition in German Schools

Brief classroom-based imagined intergroup contact interventions may promote more positive intergroup orientations among children, particularly where direct contact is limited or accompanied by uncertainty. Building on research on imagined contact, intergroup anxiety, and behavioral scripts for future interaction, this study tests whether a narrative intervention improves children’s willingness to engage with peers who have migrated to Germany. We examine whether an imagined interaction that includes mild initial uncertainty and models its successful cooperative resolution produces more positive outcomes than a smooth positive interaction without such a hurdle. Approximately 20 to 26 school classes, primarily Grade 4 but spanning Grades 2 to 6, will be recruited in the Freiburg region, Germany. Classes will be assigned to an active control story, a smooth imagined-contact story, or a hurdle-and-resolution imagined-contact story. Children will complete a post-intervention questionnaire assessing contact intentions, inclusive behavioral intentions, intergroup anxiety, contact self-efficacy, perceived similarity, and affective empathy. Primary analyses will use linear mixed-effects models with children nested within classes.