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. 2019 May 14;14(5):e0216585.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216585. eCollection 2019.

Imagine All The Synchrony: The effects of actual and imagined synchronous walking on attitudes towards marginalised groups

Gray Atherton  1 , Natalie Sebanz  2 , Liam Cross  3
Affiliations

Imagine All The Synchrony: The effects of actual and imagined synchronous walking on attitudes towards marginalised groups

Gray Atherton et al. PLoS One. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Stereotyping is a pervasive societal problem that impacts not only minority groups but subserves individuals who perpetuate stereotypes, leading to greater distance between groups. Social contact interventions have been shown to reduce prejudice and stereotyping, but optimal contact conditions between groups are often out of reach in day to day life. Therefore, we investigated the effects of a synchronous walking intervention, a non-verbal embodied approach to intergroup contact that may reduce the need for optimal contact conditions. We studied attitude change towards the Roma group in Hungary following actual and imagined walking, both in a coordinated and uncoordinated manner. Results showed that coordinated walking, both imagined and in vivo, led to explicit and implicit reductions in prejudice and stereotyping towards both the Roma individual and the wider Roma social group. This suggests that coordinated movement could be a valuable addition to current approaches towards prejudice reduction.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Means and standard errors for the Affiliation, Empathy and Overlap ratings towards the confederate.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Means and standard errors for the Overlap and Empathy change scores towards Hungarians and Roma.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Means and standard errors for the attitude change scores.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Means and standard errors for the d change scores.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Means and standard errors for the Attitude change scores affiliation, empathy and overlap ratings towards the confederate in Study 2.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Means and standard errors for Empathy and Overlap change scores towards each group type in Study 2.
Fig 7
Fig 7. Means and standard errors for Attitude change scores for Study 2.
Fig 8
Fig 8. Means and standard errors for the d change scores for study 2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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