Efficacy of imagined contact intervention with children and adolescents in reducing negative intergroup outcomes: A systematic review

Abstract

Due to its efficacy shown in early research with children, imagined contact has often been proposed as a school prejudice-reduction intervention. Nevertheless, some of the more recent studies have not been able to replicate the expected effects. This review presents the first systematic examination of the effect of imagined contact interventions conducted with children and adolescents from 2007 onwards. An extensive database search identified a total of 30 interventions across 25 separate studies of imagined contact effects (total N = 3462). The results suggest mixed support for the effectiveness of imagined contact. Furthermore, imagined contact most often leads to improvement on the measures of intended and real intergroup behaviour, followed by the measures of intergroup attitudes. The effects on the measures of emotions are rarely measured and observed. Additionally, significant intervention effects are more often found in younger children, as well as for interventions that are researcher-led (as opposed to teacher-led) and conducted individually or in small groups. Finally, interventions incorporating modified (vs. standard) scenarios, reinforcement techniques other than writing, and multiple (vs. single) sessions tend to be more beneficial in changing intergroup bias. These findings could prove useful in planning future imagined contact school interventions.