Comparing the effects of imagined and vicarious contact on attitudes of Singaporean undergraduates towards individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

• Main Author: Huang, Qi Yun
• Other Authors: Wan Ching
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Social Sciences; Imagined contact; Vicarious contact; Autism spectrum disorder; Narrative perspective
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/177818
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Intergroup contact interventions have been established to be effective in facilitating positive intergroup attitudes (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006). Existing research establishes the efficacy of direct and indirect contact interventions in reducing prejudice separately, and compares the two types of contact interventions. The present study builds upon the existing literature, to compare the influence of vicarious and imagined intergroup contact on attitudes of Singaporean undergraduates towards individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Narrative perspective is identified as the key difference between priming imagined and vicarious intergroup contact. Based on the difference in strength of persuasive effect between the first-person narrative perspective utilised in imagined contact, and the third-person narrative perspective utilised in vicarious contact, the current study hypothesised that imagined contact would be associated with more positive attitudes towards individuals with autism, compared to vicarious contact. Imagined and vicarious contact was manipulated through narrative text, and participants’ attitudes towards autism were measured on the Societal Attitudes Towards Autism (SATA) Scale (Flood et al., 2012). The results and their implications were discussed in relation to the persuasive effects of narrative perspective. Limitations of the current study and future directions for research were also discussed.