@incollection{Ditlmann, author = {Ditlmann, Ruth K.}, title = {Changing Structures Along with People to Reduce Prejudice Using Field Experiments}, series = {Advances in Prejudice Research Volume 1: New empirical and theoretical directions in prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination}, booktitle = {Advances in Prejudice Research Volume 1: New empirical and theoretical directions in prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination}, editor = {Nelson, Todd D.}, publisher = {Routledge}, address = {New York}, doi = {10.4324/9781003528043-3}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {115 -- 142}, abstract = {Prejudice researchers increasingly conceptualize prejudice as not only an individual-level construct but also a structural one. According to this view, prejudice is the manifestation of systems of oppression, such as racism, in people's cognitions and affect. This chapter examines the implications of this novel understanding of prejudice as "structurally embedded" for how we study prejudice-reduction interventions. It argues that effective interventions must aim to change structures and reviews examples of studies that have already adopted this approach. These include studies examining how changes in policies, laws, and leadership; in physical and digital spaces; and in social space can reduce prejudice, as well as how changes in perceptions of societal structures through critical education can reduce prejudice. When structural change is not feasible, the chapter proposes two alternatives: (1) designing prejudice-reduction interventions, including light-touch ones, that, in addition to reducing prejudice, also motivate people to engage in collective action for structural change; and (2) designing prejudice-reduction interventions, including light-touch ones, that take advantage of structural affordances - objective features of the structural context that increase the likelihood of success. When reviewing current field experiments on prejudice reduction, the chapter discovers that these experiments already tend to change structures in addition to people's affect and cognition, and therefore recommends using them more frequently. It concludes with a discussion of considerations for scholars designing field experiments on prejudice-reduction interventions, including methodological and ethical challenges, as well as reflections on the research process.}, language = {en} } @article{FirestoneDitlmannTurkoglu, author = {Firestone, Berenike and Ditlmann, Ruth and Turkoglu, Oguzhan}, title = {Confronting the past in a polarized present: holocaust representations motivate people for symbolic justice and against antisemitism}, series = {Social Forces}, journal = {Social Forces}, publisher = {Oxford University Press (OUP)}, doi = {10.1093/sf/soaf142}, abstract = {Awareness of past atrocities is widely seen as critical for restoring justice and building resilient democracies. Cultural representations are often deployed by cultural elites to keep the past alive. Yet, we know little about how ordinary citizens respond to them. Through a survey experiment (n = 2198), we measured the effect of three different prototypical cultural representations of the Holocaust on intentions to commemorate the Holocaust, intentions to counter antisemitism, and attitudes towards minoritized groups. We find that all three forms demonstrate overall effectiveness in motivating individuals in support of commemoration and against antisemitism and improving their attitudes towards minoritized groups. We find heterogeneous treatment effects by party affiliation. For far-right supporters, reading about the story of an individual victim is particularly effective. For others, representations that center the sheer extent of atrocities or focus on symbolic justice efforts show a greater effect on action intentions. We repeated the survey with the same respondents three months later (November 2023), following the start of the Israel-Gaza war, and found that means and treatment effects remained overall stable despite the change in context. The results demonstrate the power of cultural representations of historical injustice for motivating people to take action and reducing their prejudice today.}, language = {en} } @article{DitlmannTurkoglu, author = {Ditlmann, Ruth K. and Turkoglu, Oguzhan}, title = {Authorities impact intergroup contact intentions}, series = {Political Psychology}, journal = {Political Psychology}, publisher = {Wiley}, issn = {0162-895X}, doi = {10.1111/pops.70007}, abstract = {Two studies examined the impact of authoritys positions on intentions for inter-group contact. In Study 1, a conjoint experiment with 1000 participants revealed that discouragement from government, business and church authorities strongly decreased intentions for contact with immigrants. Conversely, encouragement had a positive but weaker effect. Additionally, indirect support signaled by policies supportive versus non-supportive of immigrants increased contact intentions. Study 2, a natural field experiment with a large dataset (N = 12,489), demonstrated that the entry of a far-right party into the German federal parliament reduced majority Germans' intentions for intergroup contact with refugees. Overall, these findings underscore the crucial role of authorities in shaping intergroup contact intentions and emphasize their importance in psychological research on prejudice.}, language = {en} } @article{DitlmannFirestoneTurkoglu, author = {Ditlmann, Ruth K. and Firestone, Berenike and Turkoglu, Oguzhan}, title = {Participating in a Digital-History Project Mobilizes People for Symbolic Justice and Better Intergroup Relations Today}, series = {Psychological Science}, volume = {36}, journal = {Psychological Science}, number = {4}, publisher = {SAGE Publications}, doi = {10.1177/09567976251331040}, pages = {249 -- 264}, abstract = {Awareness of past atrocities is widely seen as critical for restoring justice and building resilient democracies. Going beyond information provision, an increasing number of memorial sites, museums, and historical archives offer opportunities for public participation. Yet little empirical evidence exists on the impact of participation in the collective remembrance of past atrocities. Two experimental studies, a field-in-the-lab study with 552 university students in Germany and an online randomized control trial with 900 digital workers in Germany, showed that participating in a large-scale, digital-history project about Nazi persecution increased peoples' collective-action intentions for further commemoration activities and for activities that strengthen intergroup relations today. These effects persisted for 2 weeks. The findings suggest that digital-history projects can motivate collective action that is critical for symbolic justice and positive intergroup relations, thus contributing to well-functioning, pluralistic democracies.}, language = {en} }