Mediated intergroup contact and outgroup attitudes in Singapore

• Main Author: Wong, Jing Hui
• Other Authors: Sonny Ben Rosenthal
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Social sciences::Communication
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/137458
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This study examines how different formats of mediated intergroup contact affect outgroup attitudes in Singapore. Specifically, it compared mediated direct contact, where an outgroup member addresses a participant by speaking to the camera, with mediated vicarious contact, where the participant watches a clip in which an outgroup member interacts with an ingroup member. This study also tested mediational paths which sought to explain mediated contact effects. An experiment (n = 266) was conducted in Singapore, with the outgroup being transgender persons. Participants first watched a clip from either condition, then answered a questionnaire which measured their attitudes towards the outgroup member featured in the clip, their attitudes towards the outgroup, and the mediators tested. Results did not support the hypotheses and mediational paths proposed. Limitations such as an incomplete understanding of theory and the production quality of the clips which served as stimuli are discussed. Future directions for research, such as other ways information about an outgroup member can be presented in media, are also discussed.