Bystander Antiprejudice: Cross-Cultural Education, Links With Positivity Towards Cultural 'Outgroups' and Preparedness to Speak Out

This article describes a 12-week intervention targeting positivity towards asylum seekers, Indigenous Australians and Muslim Australians. The study also assessed change in the intention to engage in bystander activism in four different scenarios: two Indigenous (old-fashioned and modern prejudice),...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pedersen, Anne, Paradies, Yin, Hartley, Lisa, Dunn, Kevin
Format: Journal Article
Published: Cambridge University Press 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11751
Description
Summary:This article describes a 12-week intervention targeting positivity towards asylum seekers, Indigenous Australians and Muslim Australians. The study also assessed change in the intention to engage in bystander activism in four different scenarios: two Indigenous (old-fashioned and modern prejudice), one Muslim and one asylum seeker. There was a significant increase in positivity towards asylum seekers, Indigenous Australians and Muslim Australians. There was also a significant increase in ‘speaking out intention’, a form of bystander anti-prejudice, in three of the scenarios, but not in response to the Indigenous old-fashioned prejudice scenario. The study indicates that structured education on cross-cultural issues can improve attitudes to perceived ‘outgroups’ and, for the most part, increase participants' intention to speak out against prejudice.