Experimental testing of three categorization-based interventions to reduce prejudice and discrimination against the unvaccinated in the aftermath of COVID-19

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

For many people, COVID-19 vaccination now informs social identity, triggering prejudice and discrimination toward those with a different vaccination status. As this may jeopardize social cohesion, we investigated the effects of three brief, theory-informed interventions for reducing ingroup bias in a preregistered experimental intervention study in Germany, assigning vaccinated participants (N = 2016) to one of four conditions: crossed categorization (emphasizing commonalities between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals), recategorization (framing vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals as members of a superordinate ingroup), counter-stereotypic categorization (encouraging participants to think about mismatched stereotypes), or a control condition (no intervention). As compared to the control condition, crossed categorization and counter-stereotypic categorization were found to reduce (evaluative) ingroup bias but the observed effects were weak and mostly diminished when controlling for demographic characteristics and vaccination status identification. Overall, the results indicate that none of the three interventions substantially reduced prejudice and discrimination toward the unvaccinated.

Original languageEnglish
JournalAnalyses of Social Issues and Public Policy
ISSN1529-7489
DOIs
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.

ID: 390193486