Can That Donkey at the Poker Table Increase Prejudice? Investigating the Effects of Negative vs. Positive Vicarious Contact on Outgroup Attitudes

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Psychology
Degree name
Master of Science
Publisher
University of Canterbury
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
English
Date
2016
Authors
Andrews, Nadia
Abstract

Online poker has grown into a multibillion dollar industry, but unlike in live poker, other players do not display physical cues; in fact the only information readily available is other players’ nationality. This provides a unique opportunity to examine how intergroup attitudes can be influenced by social interactions during a game. To do so, I examined how vicariously watching negative, positive, or neutral contact between an ingroup and outgroup member at an online poker table affects ingroup and outgroup attitudes, trust, and perceived group variability. One hundred New Zealand based participants watched a video of actual online poker hands being played between a New Zealand (ingroup) and Russian (outgroup) player. Participants either saw positive, negative, or neutral contact occur between the players. Although there were no overall differences in outgroup attitudes, trust, or perceived group variability towards Russians, there was evidence of intergroup attitudes and trust when considering attitudes and trust toward Russians relative to New Zealanders. These findings suggest that merely watching positive or negative online poker interactions can affect intergroup attitudes and trust.

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Citation
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Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
All Rights Reserved