The extended contact asymmetry: Authoritarians benefit more from positive but do not suffer more from negative extended intergroup contact

Contact with outgroup members can serve as a powerful demonstration of the quality of intergroup norms to other ingroup members. This extended contact of fellow ingroup members with outgroup members is known to positively affect intergroup attitudes. Research has demonstrated a positive relationship between positive extended contact and positive intergroup attitudes—even for those most prone to prejudice, such as those high in authoritarianism. However, little is known about the relationship between negative extended contact and intergroup attitudes, or about its interaction with authoritarianism. With correlational data from seven samples (totaling 2,760 respondents across four countries), we ran an internal meta-analysis examining the relationships of positive and negative extended contact with attitudes towards immigrants for group members of advantaged ethnic-cultural groups. The analysis controlled for direct contact and relevant demographic variables to ensure robustness. We considered right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and its subdimensions as a moderator of these relationships. As expected, positive extended contact showed a stronger relationship with attitudes towards immigrants for high authoritarians. Unexpectedly, negative extended contact showed no interaction with authoritarianism. Put differently, negative extended contact showed a similarly large relationship with intergroup attitudes among high and low authoritarians. These results reveal an extended contact asymmetry: positive intergroup norms created by positive extended contact promote tolerance among authoritarians, whereas negative extended contact does not particularly harm those individuals more. Contrary to our expectations, the analysis of RWA’s subdimensions did not reveal further insights. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in light of the current debates on norm-setting and intergroup tensions.