@article{2026:bruns:flattering,
title = {Flattering compliments and savage insults – The influence of vicarious intergroup contact on minority (outgroup) support considering empathy as a mediating mechanism},
year = {2026},
note = {Minority groups in a society, such as national, ethnic, or religious
minorities, often depend on the support of other groups, so-called
outgroup support, to assert their interests and bring about social
change. Social media environments provide a wide range of options for
vicarious intergroup contact, which is assumed to be a low-threshold
way to promote outgroup support. This study focuses on intergroup
contact between the societal majority group of heterosexual
individuals as the ingroup and the minority group of homosexual
individuals as the outgroup, as well as intergroup contact between the
societal majority group of White individuals as the ingroup and the
minority group of people of color (PoC) as the outgroup. Both
homosexual individuals and PoC represent minority groups that face
systematic discrimination and social disadvantage in our society,
requiring support and interventions. We investigate the effects of
observed positive and negative intergroup contact in an online
environment on different types of outgroup support, as well as the
role of empathy and perspective-taking towards the outgroup as
potential affective and cognitive mediators. We conducted an online
experiment (N = 477), using a stratified demographic sample of the
German population. Results show that observed intergroup contact in
comment sections on social media does not influence empathy or
different forms of outgroup support. Instead, empathy and
perspective-taking influence outgroup support independent of the
observed intergroup contact.},
journal = {SCM Studies in Communication and Media},
pages = {104--135},
author = {Bruns, Sophie and Scheper, Jule and Meltzer, Christine E.},
volume = {15},
number = {1}
}