ABSTRACT

In order to bridge the psychological and physical divide between different groups, researchers have harnessed the positive elements of the Internet to improve intergroup contact. One new and effective Internet strategy is Electronic- or E-contact. Unlike other contact approaches, E-contact is an experimental intergroup intervention that uniquely accommodates Allport’s contact theory and recategorisation processes, to create a structured, cooperative, synchronous and goal-directed online text interaction between members from different groups. E-contact has been found to successfully improve intergroup relations between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland and Muslims and Catholics in Australia; and reduce bias against lesbian women and gay men, people with schizophrenia, Indigenous Australians, and transgender individuals. This paper discusses the unique engineering and advantages of E-contact interventions in comparison to existing contact strategies, identifies the theories that guide E-contact interventions, provides meta-analytic evidence of its effects, and discusses the strengths, limitations and future directions for E-contact research.

摘要

为了弥合不同群体之间的心理和生理鸿沟，研究人员利用互联网的积极因素来改善群体之间的联系。一种新的有效的互联网策略是电子或电子联系方式。与其他联系方式不同，电子联系是一种实验性的团体间干预，可以唯一地容纳Allport的联系理论和重新分类过程，从而在不同团体的成员之间创建结构化，合作，同步和目标定向的在线文本交互。已经发现，电子联系可以成功改善北爱尔兰的天主教徒和新教徒与澳大利亚的穆斯林和天主教徒之间的群体关系；并减少对女同性恋者，精神分裂症患者，澳大利亚土著居民和变性者的偏见。