Cognitive liberalization through a different lens: Intergroup contact attenuates the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and intergroup bias across three intergroup contexts

Researchers in the field of intergroup contact recently proposed that contact can broaden the mind, a process referred to as cognitive liberalization (Hodson et al., 2018). Under the right conditions, contact can increase flexible and creative thinking, as well as encourage the adoption of less rigid worldviews. The current research takes a novel approach by exploring whether contact can also "liberalize" people from the need to rely on intergroup bias to manage discomfort with uncertainty. We draw on Uncertainty-Identity Theory (Hogg, 2000) to argue that intergroup contact can ameliorate the regulatory function of intergroup bias for reducing subjective uncertainty. Using three large-scale Project Implicit datasets (Ntotal = 25,046), we tested whether contact moderates the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and intergroup bias and found that intolerance of uncertainty was associated with intergroup bias among people who do not experience contact with gay, transgender, or disabled people, but this association was generally weaker or non-significant among people who experience contact. These results add to growing support for the liberalizing impact of intergroup contact by elucidating a novel benefit: Reduced reliance on intergroup bias as a means of managing subjective uncertainty.