The Contact-Prejudice Relationship Among Ethnic Minorities: Examining the Facilitative Influence of Religiosity

Objectives. The pioneers of intergroup contact research suggested that the positive impact of face-to-face interaction might fail among “intolerant” participants. To challenge this view, the present study extends previous research by examining religiosity as a boundary condition of intergroup contact among ethnic minority members. Methods. The results were generated in a regression analysis of a Danish national probability sample from 2006 (N = 3,958). Results. Analyses show that: (a) the ability of intergroup contact to reduce prejudice is strongest among the most religious and (b) that contact reduces prejudice at all levels of religiosity. Conclusions. These findings support the general claim that intergroup contact is sufficiently powerful to produce positive outcomes, even among the most “intolerant.” Additionally, the findings suggest that intergroup contact is not necessarily seriously infected by selection biases, as the most intolerant do not systematically avoid contact. The concluding section discusses the theoretical implications of the findings.