Abstract
Research has indicated that social groups naturally form and conflict with their outgroups, leading to prejudice and discrimination (Allport, 1954). Studies have found that meaningful contact, even if it is imagined, can lead to more positive attitudes (Miles & Crisp, 2014). The current study replicated the work of Bagci et al. (2018a) and examined the influence of imagined positive contact with added friendship potential on attitudes toward Muslim immigrants. This study utilized a 3 (type of imagined intergroup contact) x 2 (type of potential relationship) between-participants design and had a sample of 265 U.S. college students. Participants reported their outgroup evaluations, trust, threat, behavioral intentions, and communication confidence. Results showed a significant interaction between the type of imagined contact and potential relationship on outgroup evaluations, indicating that the type of scenario can influence outgroup attitudes. However, there were no significant main effects on any of the dependent variables.