Inventing new road paths for the contact theory through contact with a puppet (a “Syrian refugee child”) via a teacher-led intervention in a Greek primary school.

Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, Vol 28(3), Aug 2022, 327-339; doi:10.1037/pac0000612A pre–post quasi experimental design (test–retest–late response test) with a control group involving an intervention that aimed at creating contact conditions between the children of a classroom and a puppet “classmate” that held the identity of a Syrian refugee child was implemented in this study. Contact with a puppet is an innovative form of contact which combines features of direct and indirect intergroup contact. The sample comprised of 73 primary school students drawn from a relatively ethnically homogeneous primary school in Athens and attitudes measures, along with a behavioral measure (a money allocation task) were employed. Results showed that contact with the puppet improved children’s attitudes toward the refugees, through inclusion of the other in the self, while an increase of empathy toward the refugees and a reduction of feelings related to threats posed by the refugees to the ingroup were also revealed. Results were more favorable in the intervention group that included contact and empathy inducing activities with the puppet. Most importantly, there were indications that some of the positive outcomes lasted in time, that is, 6 months after the intervention had finished, while there were also indications of the buffering effect for both intervention groups; again, more profound for the intervention that implemented empathy inducing activities. (Psyc...
Source: Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research