The Taboo of Contact between Groups: Ontologisation of “Prohibited” Interracial Relationships

The aim of this study is to examine the taboo of contact between groups according to the theory of ontologisation, the social representations that prevent members of the minority and majority groups who are living in contact each other to mingle. With reference to the famous slogan “equal but separate”, we have predicted that an interracial sexual relation will give rise to a greater ontologisation of the persons involved with respect to an intra-racial sexual relation, because it is represented as a “counter nature” phenomenon. In other words, the sexual relationship between people of different “races” will be explained in terms of biologistic thinking that, like an instinctive nature or animal impulse, leads to a representation of the human species in culture groups and nature groups. In order to test our hypothesis, we have designed a experiment (N=360) in which we have presented the case of a woman, though already being in a stable relationship, is unfaithful to her partner and has sexual relations first with a lover, and then with a friend of the lover. In a 2x3 factor design, the ethnic-national identity of this women (ingroup-Spanish/Italian vs. outgroup-Senegalese) and the ethnic-national identity of her lovers (ingroup-Spanish/Italian vs. outgroup: Rumanian vs. Senegalese) were manipulated. In general terms, the results confirm the hypothesis of ontologisation of the sexual relationship between people of different “races” (mixing races). Participants will explain the inter-racial mixing as the upshot of a wild and atavistic animal impulse, which stigmatizes the people involved in these relationships