I thought we could be friends, but ...: systematic miscommunication and defensive distancing as obstacles to cross-group friendship formation

Psychological Science
Jacquie D Vorauer, Yumiko Sakamoto

Abstract

This study examined the precursors and consequences of systematic miscommunications regarding relationship interest during intergroup interaction. Pairs of previously unacquainted same-sex students (White-White, White-Chinese, or Chinese-Chinese) engaged in a relatively intimate controlled interaction. White participants who had had little prior contact with Chinese persons were more apt to exhibit a signal-amplification bias (i.e., to perceive that their overtures had conveyed more interest than was actually the case) in intergroup as compared with intragroup exchanges. In contrast, White participants with high levels of prior contact with Chinese persons and Chinese participants did not show enhanced signal amplification in intergroup relative to intragroup exchanges. These results support our hypothesis that lack of intergroup contact experience sets the stage for miscommunications regarding friendship interest. White participants' tendency to feel that they had initially communicated more interest in being friends than their Chinese partner mediated a downward shift in their actual friendship interest over time, suggesting that signal amplification triggers defensive distancing and ultimately lowers the likelihood of cross-...Continue Reading

References

Apr 22, 2003·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·Jacquie D VorauerDeanna G Pearce
Mar 12, 2004·Annual Review of Psychology·T F Pettigrew
Jan 6, 2005·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·J Nicole Shelton, Jennifer A Richeson
Oct 29, 2005·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Jacquie D Vorauer

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Citations

Aug 17, 2011·Personality and Social Psychology Review : an Official Journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc·Kristin DaviesStephen C Wright
Nov 6, 2010·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Stefania PaoliniMark Rubin
Jun 22, 2014·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Nicole SheltonThomas E Trail
Jun 3, 2021·Journal of Intelligence·Sara D Hodges, Murat Kezer
Nov 3, 2021·Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications·Kerry KawakamiKurt Hugenberg

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