Reaching across social divides deliberately: Theoretical, political, and practical implications of intergroup contact volition for intergroup relations

Paolini, Stefania; Harwood, Jake; Rubin, Mark; Huck, Jonathan; Dunn, Kevin; Dixon, John

Abstract

The benefits of positive intergroup contact for intergroup attitudes are well‐established. Yet individual and group self‐segregation practices demonstrate that opportunities for intergroup contact are not sufficient for contact uptake; and persistent institutionalized segregation reinforces and compounds this problem. Hence, we need to understand what drives people towards and away from intergroup contact and what consequences the capacity to deliberately engage or avoid contact has for individuals, groups, and communities. This paper formally introduces the concept of intergroup contact volition: our perceived personal control over intergroup contact engagement and avoidance. We demonstrate this concept's theoretical, political, and practical significance by highlighting its embeddedness in both old and recent literature. We document debates around volition in early intergroup contact research and note a prolonged neglect since. After discussing reasons for that neglect, we present a detailed analysis of the concept, outlining how the idea of volition itself is contested and political, as well as the ways it intersects with broader societal power and status dynamics. We then outline pathways for future research, including investigations of when taking volition away (making contact mandated) might be helpful, intersections between psychological and human geography perspectives on volition, and connections between volition and system justification. We argue that contact volition is intimately and ultimately linked to issues of social change: support of, versus resistance to, policies promoting intergroup integration. As a result, an enhanced understanding of volition is critical to developing intergroup contact research and practice into outcomes that maximize social justice.

Citation

Paolini, S., Harwood, J., Rubin, M., Huck, J., Dunn, K., & Dixon, J. (2024). Reaching across social divides deliberately: Theoretical, political, and practical implications of intergroup contact volition for intergroup relations. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 18(8), Article e12988. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12988

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 4, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jul 30, 2024
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Aug 14, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 14, 2024
• Journal: Social and Personality Psychology Compass
• Electronic ISSN: 1751-9004
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 8
• Article Number: e12988
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12988
• Keywords: prejudice, self‐selection, contact avoidance, contact seeking, group segregation, volition, intergroup contact, social change
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2739768