Location
17 item scale:
Stephan, C.W., Stephan, W.G., Demitrakis, K.M., Yamada, A.M., & Clason, D.L. (2000). Women’s attitudes
toward men: An integrated threat theory approach. Psychology of Women Quarterly ,24,6 3/C073.
14 item scale:
Stephan, W.G., Boniecki, K.A., Ybarra, O., et al. (2002). The role of threats in the racial attitudes of Blacks and
Whites. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin ,28, 1242/C01254.
Results and Comments
The early literature investigating the effects of negative contact treats the construct as a relatively independent
entity. More recent studies seeking to redress the positivity bias in the field have tended to present negative con-
tact in direct association with positive contact, envisaging the two variables as opposing but related, or some-
times as opposite ends of a single spectrum of a contact experience. A key question implied by contact valence
asks which form of contact has the greater effect on our attitudes, biases and behaviors? This question presents a
challenge for the measurement of valenced contact if the inventories are based on specific negative contact experi-
ences; none of the studies discussed thus far have included directly comparable measures of specific positive con-
tact experiences. If researchers wish to present positive and negative contact as similar but opposing factors, their
chosen items need to reflect equivalent forms of valenced contact, or else risk compromising content validity.
NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES INVENTORY
Have [outgroupers] ever treated you as follows ...
1. ...treated as inferior
2. ...verbally abused
3. ...ridiculed
4. ...manipulated
5. ...rejected
6. ...sexually harassed
7. ...sexually assaulted
8. ...threatened
9. ...physically harmed
10. ...exploited11. ...forced to do something I didn’t want to
12. ...unfairly criticized
13. ...made to feel unwanted
14. ...emotionally blackmailed
15. ...put down
16. ...intimidated
17. ...discriminated against
Notes:
Scored from 1 5never to 95very frequently .3
Reproduced with permission.
Valenced Contact (VC)
(Barlow et al., 2012; Pettigrew, 2008 ).
Variable
A few studies have utilized a ‘valenced’ contact scale, which includes similarly structured items for both posi-
tive and negative contact. We discuss two negative contact inventories that are accompanied by seemingly
matched positive contact items, namely Pettigrew’s (2008) multi-item positive/negative contact scale and Barlow
et al.’s (2012) single item negative/positive contact items.
Description
Pettigrew (2008) reported preliminary results obtained using an eight-item measure of VC experience. The neg-
ative contact measure included one negative experience item and three negative feeling items. All four items
were answered using a 4-point rating scale with higher numbers indicating more negative contact experiences.
The positive contact measure included two positive experience items and two positive feeling items. All four
items were answered on a 4-point rating scale. Higher scores represent more positive contact experiences.
3The items for the shorter 14-item measure could not be provided as they are not included in the original article.663 OVERVIEW OF THE MEASURES
VI. SOCIOCULTURAL INTERACTION AND CONFLICT