An Experimental Exploration of Secondary Transfer Effects

The following study explored the secondary transfer effect (STE) through minimal, online intergroup contact, with a positive and negative dimension of contact through acceptance from outgroup and the rejection from ingroup peers. An experiment was conducted where the participants played an economic game with fictional players. The manipulation in the experimental condition involved minimal contact in the form of rejection from two (fictional) ingroup members combined with acceptance from one (fictional) outgroup member. This was compared to a control condition, in which participants received no feedback nor contact with other players. The dependent variable comprised measures of prejudice against three groups: immigrants, Muslims and old people. Results showed significantly lower prejudice towards immigrants in the experimental condition compared to the control condition, which is consistent with previous research and contact theory. Secondary transfer effects did occur, but not towards the expected groups.