Antecedents and consequences of social identity complexity: intergroup contact, distinctiveness threat and out-group attitudes

Social psychological research is increasingly focusing on multiple-categorization processes and the conse-quences of these for intergroup perception (for a detailed review, see Crisp & Hewstone, 2007). In this article, we examine the relatively novel theoretical concept of social identity complexity. We investigate both inter-group contact and distinctiveness threat as antecedents of social identity complexity, as well as the mediating role of social identity complexity in the link between intergroup contact and intergroup bias. Thus, this research further examines the extent to which intergroup contact may shape more differentiated outgroup, as well as more differentiated ingroup, perceptions, the latter being a relationship that has been largely ignored in research on intergroup contact