Does Interethnic Contact Reduce Prejudice? Evidence from Public Swimming Pools.

Dr Sacha Riaz’s 13-month long John Fell-funded study examines how interethnic contact in public social spaces shapes out-group prejudice and anti-immigrant sentiment in the context of multiethnic democracies. 

Initial findings suggest that such contact can increase far-right voting, with potential mechanisms including far-right politicization, ingroup favouritism and outgroup discrimination. 

To delve deeper, the study plans to conduct surveys and experiments to understand these mechanisms better, aiming to shed light on when intergroup contact may exacerbate racial prejudice and anti-immigrant sentiment, rather than alleviate it.