The Role of Emotions in Determining Willingness to Engage in Intergroup Contact

This research explored the role of affect (i.e., emotions) and cognitions (i.e., stereotypes and symbolic beliefs) in Whites’ willingness to engage in contact with Blacks and, in a comparison behavior, endorsement of social policies for Blacks. Specifically, participants were instructed to focus on their feelings or on their thoughts while watching a video portraying discrimination toward Blacks or a comparison video. As predicted, participants who watched the discrimination video while focusing on their emotions showed greater willingness to engage in contact with Blacks than did participants in the other three conditions. Mediational analysis suggested that this effect was mediated by changes in emotions toward Blacks. In contrast, social policy endorsement and cognitions about Blacks were not affected by the focus manipulation. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of moving beyond assessing and attempting to change intergroup attitudes at a global level to examining the affective and cognitive bases of these attitudes.