fei75766_ch12_377-407.indd 397  02/06/20 12:56 PM
Chapter 12    Allport: Psychology of the Individual397
prejudice. Thisbecame known asthecontact hypothesis andtheoptimal conditions 
wererelatively simple: (1)equal status between thetwogroups, (2)common goals, 
(3)cooperation between groups, and(4)support ofanauthority figure, law,or
custom. Forexample, ifAfrican American andEuropean American neighbors got
together toform aneighborhood watch group withthecommon goalofmaking their
neighborhood safer andsuchaprogram wasendorsed bythemayor orcitypolice 
department, thenthisinteraction andgroup effort would belikely toleadtoreduced 
prejudice among residents oftheneighborhood.
Although Allport himself conducted some research onthetopic ofprejudice 
reduction (Allport, 1954), oneofhisstudents, Thomas Pettigrew, hascontinued the
work thatAllport began (Pettigrew &Tropp, 2006; Pettigrew etal.,2011; Tropp &
Pettigrew, 2005). Thomas Pettigrew andLinda Tropp havebuiltalarge research pro-
gram targeted atinvestigating theconditions under which contact between groups can
reduce prejudice.
Intwocomplex meta-analyses ofover500studies andmore than250,000 
participants, Pettigrew &Tropp (2006) andPettigrew etal.(2011) examined the
validity ofAllport’s contact hypothesis. They found that,indeed, intergroup contact 
reduces prejudice, andthatAllport’s fourconditions foroptimal contact between 
groups facilitate thiseffect. Furthermore, although theconcept ofoptimal contact 
wasoriginally conceptualized asawaytoreduce racial prejudice (Allport, 1954), 
research hasshown thatitalsoworks toreduce prejudiced attitudes toward other 
stigmatized groups suchastheelderly, disabled, mentally ill,andgayandlesbian 
individuals (Pettigrew etal.,2011). Studies generally show larger effects formea-
sures ofliking thanforsuchindicators asstereotyping, meaning thatoptimal con-
tacthelps usliketheoutgroup more evenwhile stereotypes about them maypersist 
(Tropp &Pettigrew, 2005).
Thebestwaytodecrease conflict andprejudice istohavemore contact andinteraction withthose 
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