LE3 .A278 2023

2023

MacInnis, Cara

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Psychology

Psychology

Understanding support for policies that serve to empower women is of utmost importance, especially in light of recent abortion restrictions in the United States that violate women’s fundamental rights. Promisingly, it is well-established that intergroup contact – contact with a person or people belonging to a different social group (i.e., “outgroup”) – fosters more positive attitudes and emotions towards the outgroup as a whole. Intergroup contact may also influence the support of action directed at social change. Some work suggests that, in general, intergroup contact in the form of close, intimate relationships can initiate greater collective action, especially when such relationships involve recognition and condemnation of inequality. I investigated this in a gender context examining contact between men and women. I examined whether contact (specifically, friendship) between men and women can contribute to support for abortion policy and collective action aimed at promoting gender equality, including examining emotions and attitudes as mediators and recognition and condemnation of inequality as a moderator. Across men and women, cross-group friendship was not associated with support for collective action or abortion policy. Exploring intergroup contact in this particular domain is important, but complex. Contact between men and women may not operate in the same way as other forms of intergroup contact due to gender norms, stereotypes, and sexual tension. However, recognition and condemnation of gender inequality was associated with greater support for collective action and abortion policy through more negative emotions and attitudes toward men and more positive attitudes toward women. Implications and future directions are discussed.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:4034