The More, The Better? Evidence of Parallel Growth in Intergroup Contact Quantity and Quality Over Time

Meleady, Rose ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4671-4960, Kotzur, Patrick F., Shulman, Deborah, Hodson, Gordon, Crisp, Richard J., Blaylock, Danielle, Hughes, Joanne, Van Zalk, Maarten H. W. and Schmid, Katharina (2026) The More, The Better? Evidence of Parallel Growth in Intergroup Contact Quantity and Quality Over Time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. ISSN 0022-3514 (In Press)

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Abstract

Intergroup contact is a central feature of intergroup relations, yet research has largely examined its quantity and quality as separate, static predictors of intergroup attitudes, leaving relatively little known about how these dimensions themselves develop over time. We examine this question in four longitudinal studies across contexts and age groups, each including both majority and minority group members. Study 1 followed White British and Asian British adolescents undergoing a school merger in the UK (N = 660, 3 waves). Study 2 involved Catholic and Protestant youths participating in a peacebuilding program in Northern Ireland (N = 592, 3 waves). Study 3 tracked British and international students transitioning to university (N = 527, 4 waves), and Study 4 followed Catholic and Protestant children in Northern Ireland from the start of their secondary education (N = 3,057, 3 waves). Using latent growth modelling, we tracked how contact quantity and quality changed over time and how these trajectories were linked. Across all studies, we observed significant co-growth with steeper increases in contact frequency corresponding with greater improvements in interaction quality. When positive and negative valence were measured separately (Studies 3-4), growth in contact quantity was associated with increased interaction positivity, while changes in negativity remained minimal and non-significantly related to contact frequency. These findings suggest that intergroup contact is itself a dynamic experience: changes in how frequently people engage in contact are systematically related to changes in how positively they experience that contact.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	intergroup contact,contact quality,contact quantity,longitudinal,latent growth modeling,4* ,/dk/atira/pure/researchoutput/REFrank/4_
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Cognition, Action and Perception Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Social Cognition Research Group
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	16 Sep 2026 08:42
Last Modified:	16 Sep 2026 08:42
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/104549
DOI:	issn:0022-3514

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