Intergroup contact can undermine disadvantaged group members' attributions to discrimination

In the current research we investigated social settings through which attributions to discrimination are undermined. Drawing on work linking intergroup contact to perceptions of inequality, we tested the prediction that experiences of commonality-focused contact would reduce disadvantaged group members' tendency to attribute negative treatment of fellow group members to discrimination. In Study 1 students were randomly assigned to either a commonality-focused, differences-focused, or no-contact condition, ostensibly with a student from a higher status university. Commonality-focused interactions led participants to view the status hierarchy as more legitimate, and consequently, to be less likely to attribute negative treatment to discrimination. In Study 2 this effect was replicated among Ethiopian-Jews (a disadvantaged minority in Israel) who reported the amount of commonality-focused contact they experience with non-Ethiopian Jews. Theoretical and practical implications regarding intergroup contact and perceptions of inequality are discussed.

► We tested factors that undermine tendencies to make attributions to discrimination.
► Participants were disadvantaged group members who evaluated an ingroup rejection.
► Contact with the advantaged group impacted attributions to discrimination.
► When contact was commonality-focused it undermined attributions to discrimination.
► This effect was explained by increased views of the hierarchy as legitimate.