SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE INTERGROUP CONTACT: THE ROLE OF ALLPORT’S CONDITIONS FOR SEXUAL MAJORITIES AND MINORITIES

This study investigated online intergroup contact between heterosexual men and women (the ma-jority) and gay men and lesbian women (the minority) and tested whether Allport’s optimal conditions — cooperation, common goals, equal status, and authority support — moderate the positive effects of online contact quality on intergroup attitudes and outgroup trust. Italian adult participants reported their experiences of social media contact with a sexual outgroup. Results revealed that optimal condi-tions did not moderate the association between the perceived quality of online contact and intergroup attitudes in either the majority or minority group. However, when outgroup trust was the dependent variable, the perception of common goals and equal status in online contact strengthened the effect of contact quality among gay and lesbian participants (but not among heterosexual participants). These results shed light on the conditions needed to improve the effects of online intergroup contact on reducing prejudice toward sexual minorities.