Meeting the Other: Changing Attitudes Despite Intractable Conflicts—A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

With rising numbers and increasing complexity of long-living conflicts, the effect of contact interventions is tested in that context. This meta-analysis investigated the effect contact interventions have on outgroup-attitudes in the context of a highly intractable conflict. Publications were included, if they quantitatively assessed a contact intervention with samples collected in the context of a highly intractable conflict, either still active or politically resolved, and assessed attitude toward the outgroup they met as a dependent variable. With these criteria, 38 publications with 57 samples and 143 outcomes were included. The influence methodological rigorousness has on the effect sizes in the primary studies is low. The present results suggest that contact interventions are associated with improved attitude toward the outgroup; however, this result is accompanied by high heterogeneity, suggesting high degree of uncertainty in the estimation of the main effect. Further, the mix of correlational and experimental studies makes causal inferences difficult.