Climate change, pandemics, people searching for refuge from war and declining natural resources; the challenges within a globalized world cannot be solved without the cooperation between people from all over the world. This includes political cooperation, as well as grassroot movements working towards a sustainable and more equal society, and individuals changing the own consumer behavior or lifestyle. Unfortunately, both national and personal interests often conflict with behaviors and measures that would be necessary to mitigate crises. How to overcome those barriers to global responsible behavior?
For almost seven decades, psychologists have shown that intergroup contact reduces prejudice against people from other groups. In the context of global environmental and social problems, we propose that contact has potential beyond that. We posit that international contact facilitates identification with the global ingroup of humanity and in turn induces globally responsible behavioral intentions and behaviors. In two manuscripts we present experimental as well as correlational evidence from nine studies (N=2147) supporting the “global contact” hypothesis. Both experimental induced contact (in six studies by the use of a simulated internet chat) and self-reported international contacts led to higher identification and solidarity with humanity compared to different control groups. Global identification and solidarity in turn, were related to higher global responsible attitudes and intentions. Those participants who had simulated contact with distant cultures reported a significantly higher level of identification with humanity compared to participants with close contacts.
Climate change, people fleeing from war and poverty, pandemics – the challenges for the international community are enormous. However, the results of this dissertation suggest that this community also has the potential to face such crises. The promotion of positive contacts with people from other parts of the world can foster identities and engagement beyond national borders and interests. 'Know few, care for all.:Table of Contents
1 - Introduction
2 - Method
Procedure
The chat paradigm
Contact condition
Control conditions
Imagined contact design
Manipulations for additional research questions
The questionnaire
3 - Get together, feel together, act together: International personal contact increases
identification with humanity and global collective action
Abstract
Introduction
International contact
Processes underlying intergroup contact effects
Contact and collective action
The superordinate identity of humanity
The model and preliminary results
Study 1
Methods
Results and discussion
Study 2
Methods
Results
Discussion
Empirical findings
Study designs
Advantages of contact interventions
Superordinate categories
Status groups
Conclusion
4 – Know few, care for all. Does international contact increase global identification and responsible global action?
Abstract
Introduction
Intergroup contact
Contact and Pro-social action
Generalization and recategorization
Levels of identification
The Present Research
Overview of the Studies
Method
Procedure and measures
Results
Meta-Analysis
Testing the salience of exclusive common ingroups and contact group similarity as
moderators
General Discussion
The recategorization hypothesis
Influence of lower level categories
Conclusion
5 - Discussion
Theoretical impulse
Application in the field
Conclusion and appeal
Supplemental material
Supplemental Material to Chapter 3
Supplemental Material to Chapter 4
References
Appendix
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:75415 |
| Date | 14 July 2021 |
| Creators | Römpke, Anne-Kristin |
| Contributors | Universität Leipzig |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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