Engaging in a Brief Cultural Activity Can Reduce Implicit Prejudice

http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/engaging-in-a-brief-cultural-activity-can-reduce-implicit-prejudice.html?utm_source=pressrelease&utm_medium=eureka&utm_campaign=culturalconnection

August 22, 2013
For Immediate Release
Contact: Anna Mikulak
Association for Psychological Science

A small cue of social connection to someone from another group — such as a shared interest — can help reduce prejudice immediately and up to six months later, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

“Our research shows that even a brief opportunity to take part in another group’s culture can improve intergroup attitudes even months later,” says psychological scientist and lead researcher Tiffany Brannon of Stanford University.
Decades of research in psychology show that extended relationships between people from different groups — such as between roommate pairs and long-standing friends — can improve attitudes toward other groups.

Even small cues like a common birthday have been shown to bring people together and lead them to share common goals and motivations. Brannon and Stanford professor Gregory Walton wanted to investigate whether such small cues might impact people’s engagement with, and attitudes toward, other groups.

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