Contact Hypothesis

The psychologist Gordon Allport suggested, in 1954, that equal status contact would improve intergroup relations, the premise of many government sponsored (or not) cultural exchange missions.

It turns out, however, that increased contact will improve intergroup relations only under very specific conditions. For instance, contact must be meaningful, voluntary, extended in duration, varied across contexts, generalized beyond the immediate situation, and take place among individuals who are similar in all but cultural background.

Pretty demanding, I would say. So, how many of these conditions does JASC fulfill?

Allport, Gordon W. The Nature of Prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1954.

Prentice, Deborah A., and Dale T. Miller. "The Psychology of Cultural Contact." In Cultural Divides: Understanding and Overcoming Group Conflict, edited by Deborah A. Prentice and Dale T. Miller. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1999.