Psychology

ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF INTERGROUP CONTACT (MELEADYR_U23PSY)

Year of Entry: 2023

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Application deadline

22 February 2023

Location

UEA Campus

Start date

October 2023

Mode of study

Full time

Funding type

Competition funded (students worldwide)

Programme type

PhD

Project Overview

Intergroup contact theory states that interactions between members of different cultural groups
can reduce prejudice and improve intergroup relations. More than 60 years of supportive research has led to the widely shared recognition that intergroup contact “works” in reducing prejudice. However, this potential can only be realised when individuals are willing to engage in intergroup contact. With levels of ethnic segregation remaining high across much of the UK understanding what motivates people to engage with diversity fully and positively is a crucial task for academics and practitioners alike.
This project will explore the factors that motivate/ hinder intergroup contact engagement, as well as the consequences of intergroup contact and how the beneficial consequences of intergroup contact encounters may function as reward systems reinforcing future intergroup contact behaviours and further contact-seeking.

When applying for this project, please select that you are applying with your own research proposal, selecting Psychology as the subject area and including the project title within the 'Research Title and Summary' section of the application. If you have any questions about the application process, please email us.

Entry Requirements

Acceptable first degree in Psychology or cognate subject and a Research Methods Masters in Psychology, or equivalent qualification.

Funding

This PhD project is in a competition for a Faculty of Social Sciences funded studentship. The studentship covers full tuition fees for Home or International students, a tax-free maintenance grant equivalent to UKRI studentship rates (currently £17,688) and a research training support grant (currently £750 per year).

For further information, please see Studentships and Stipends and for information on maintenance grant levels.

Please also see the UEA Studentship terms and conditions.

References

i) Paolini, S., Harwood, J., Hewstone, M., & Neumann, D.L., (2018). Seeking and avoiding intergroup contact: Future frontiers of research on building social integration. Social and Personality Psychology Compass. 12, e12422.

ii) Kauff ,M., Beneda, M., Paolini, S., Bilewicz, M., Kotzur, P., O’Donnell, A.W., Stevenson, C., Wagner, U., & Christ, O. (2021). How do we get people into contact? Predictors of intergroup contact and drivers of contact seeking. Journal of Social Issues, 77, 38-63.

iii) Meleady, R. (2021). “Nudging” intergroup contact: Normative social influences on intergroup contact engagement. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 24, 1180-1199.

iv) Meleady, R., Seger, C., & Vermue, M. (2020). Evidence of a dynamic association between intergroup contact and intercultural competence. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 24, 1427-1447

v) Meleady, R. & Hodson, G. (2022). Reductions in perceived COVID-19 threat amid UK’s mass public vaccination programme coincide with reductions in outgroup avoidance (but not prejudice). British Journal of Social Psychology, Advance online publication.

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