MCAT Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior: Passage 3 — Flashcards

Use the following passage:
Recent research has demonstrated that mentally simulating positive intergroup encounters can promote tolerance and more positive intergroup attitudes. A recent study explored the attributional process behind the positive effects. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups. In the first group, participants were instructed to imagine intergroup contact from a first-person perspective. The second group was instructed to imagine the contact from a third-person perspective. Finally, the third group was the control group and received no instructions. Participants from the first-person-perspective group indicated stronger intents to engage in future contact, but the intent was not significantly different from the intent of the control group. Despite this, they did have more positive attitudinal orientation toward out-group encounters after the mental simulation. Participants in the third-person-perspective group also reported stronger intents to engage in future contact, and those intents were significantly stronger than the control group. The findings suggest that attributional processes are important in observing the benefits that are attained from mentally simulating intergroup contact.