Journal of Psychology & Behavioral Science

The Impact of Vicarious Perspective-Giving on Subordinate Group Members’ Outgroup Attitudes
Emma Korein, Michael Sargent

Abstract
Perspective-giving, a type of intergroup contact where anindividual shares his or her perspective with an outgroup member, has been shown to be a successful method of improving positive outgroup attitudes for subordinate group members. No research has been identified that tests the effects of vicarious perspectivegiving, which the current study defines as witnessing another ingroup member give his or her perspective to an outgroup member. The current study compares the effects of direct perspective-giving and vicarious perspective-giving on the outgroup attitudes of onesubordinate group, female college students. Female students from Bates College completed a task in which they used Facebook chat to either present their own perspective as a female student to a male student, or witness another female student giving her perspective to a male student. Participants completed a questionnaire measuring their attitudes towards male students at Bates College before and after the task. It was found that direct perspective-giving did not change participants’ attitudes towards male students, and vicarious perspective-giving actually led to less favorable attitudes towards male students. This has implications for the role that perspective-giving plays on gender dynamics on college campuses and provides a platform for future research on vicarious perspective-giving.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jpbs.v3n2a9