Breaking Bias: How Contact Theory Fosters Understanding and Inclusion"

Contact theory, first proposed by social psychologist Gordon Allport in the 1950s, suggests that positive, meaningful interactions between members of different groups can help reduce prejudice and unlearn biases.

Here's how it works:

1. Reduces Stereotyping through Personal Connections

When people interact with members of a group they hold biases against, they can see those individuals as unique people rather than as stereotypes. For example, interacting with someone from a different culture may help you realize their values and behaviours are more complex than the generalized ideas you previously held.

2. Builds Empathy

Contact fosters empathy by allowing individuals to step into someone else’s perspective. For instance, hearing about another person’s experiences with discrimination can evoke understanding and compassion, which counteracts preconceived notions.

3. Provides Counterexamples to Prejudices

Biases often stem from overgeneralizations or misinformation. When individuals encounter someone who contradicts a stereotype (e.g., meeting a highly successful person from a group that’s stereotyped as unmotivated), it challenges their biased beliefs and encourages them to reassess.

4. Normalizes Diversity

Frequent and positive interactions with diverse groups help normalize diversity, reducing the "otherness" of marginalized groups. This diminishes feelings of fear or discomfort associated with unfamiliar groups.

5. Creates Cooperative Goals

When individuals from different groups work together toward a common goal (for example, collaborative work or community projects), it shifts the focus from group differences to shared objectives. This cooperation strengthens intergroup relationships and diminishes biases.

Conditions for Success

For contact theory to be effective, several conditions should ideally be met:

• Equal Status: Both groups perceive themselves as equals during the interaction.

• Common Goals: There is a shared purpose that requires cooperation.

• Supportive Environment: Authorities or norms must support positive intergroup contact.

• Personal Interactions: Opportunities for meaningful, one-on-one exchanges help humanize others.

Why It Works for Unlearning Bias

Biases are often deeply rooted in social conditioning and lack of exposure to diversity. Contact theory helps break these patterns by offering real-life experiences that counteract stereotypes and assumptions. It shifts biases from abstract generalizations to nuanced, human-centered understandings.

Tymmarah (Tymm) Mackie, MA (she/her)

Founder and President, Fostering Diverse Communities Canada