Modern avenues for intergroup contact: Using E-contact and intergroup emotions to reduce stereotyping and social distancing against people with schizophrenia
Abstract
Intergroup contact is the leading strategy for reducing the stigma associated with mental illness. For the first time, the current study examines the effectiveness of a contemporary intergroup contact strategy, called electronic or E-contact, to reduce stigma against people diagnosed with schizophrenia. It also examines the mediating role of three target-relevant intergroup emotions, namely fear, anger, and pity. In total, 133 participants engaged in E-contact with a person diagnosed with schizophrenia (intergroup E-contact), E-contact with a person without a mental illness (intragroup E-contact), or no contact. Compared to the intragroup E-contact and no-contact conditions, intergroup E-contact reduced fear, anger, and stereotyping toward people with schizophrenia. Additionally, fear and anger, but not pity, were found to be significant affective mediators of the E-contact effect. The findings demonstrate the value of computer-mediated intergroup contact for stigma reduction, and emphasize the importance of intergroup emotions in this domain.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Two included studies presented incomplete data.
“Regarding data, 2 studies [22,37] presented incomplete data.”
From Innovative Technology–Based Interventions to Reduce Stigma Toward People With Mental Illness: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (2022) · cites this paper as [22]
For 3 studies with more than 1 stigma scale, the multiple measures were combined into a single effect size following methodology for complex data structures.
“As 3 of the studies included more than 1 scale that assessed levels of stigma [11,22,31], we conducted an analysis that combined them into a single effect size. In those cases, we followed the methodology suggestion for complex data structures [30].”
From Innovative Technology–Based Interventions to Reduce Stigma Toward People With Mental Illness: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (2022) · cites this paper as [22]
e-Contact using chat and synchronous videoconferencing can reduce anxiety, stigma, and stereotypes toward people with mental disorders and promote an inclusive attitude.
“However, e-contact implementation in the field of stigma reduction is new and innovative, and it has been demonstrated that e-contact using chat and synchronous videoconferencing can reduce anxiety, stigma, and stereotypes toward the population impacted by mental disorders, and promote an inclusive attitude [11,22].”
From Innovative Technology–Based Interventions to Reduce Stigma Toward People With Mental Illness: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (2022) · cites this paper as [22]
Adaptation of educative and contact components has demonstrated great utility in e-contact with people with mental illness, offering wider dissemination and reaching remote areas [11,22].
“Its adaptation had demonstrated a great utility, for example, in e-contact with people with mental illness, as they offer the possibility of wider dissemination and even the possibility of reaching remote areas [11,22].”
From Innovative Technology–Based Interventions to Reduce Stigma Toward People With Mental Illness: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (2022) · cites this paper as [22]
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 36 · Cited by 73
- Authors
- Maunder, R. D., White, F. A., & Verrelli, S.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Maunder, Rachel D.
- Venue
- Group Processes & Intergroup Relations
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2018-09-19
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 947-963
- ISSN
- 1368-4302 (ISSN-L)
- 1461-7188
- OpenAlex
- W2889654492
- Cited by
- 73
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 8.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Group Processes & Intergroup Relations (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Sydney
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Inclusion and Disability in Education and Sport
- Keywords
- intergroup contact, electronic contacts, computer-mediated communication, schizophrenia, mental health stigma, stereotyping, intergroup emotions, fear, anger, pity, social distancing, stigma reduction
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
