Schematic representations of ethnic minorities in young university students

Résumé 0

"This study analy zes the cognitive representations of ethnic m i- norities in a sample of Spanish undergraduate students. As a general h y- pothesis it was predicted that perceived differences in social status shape these representations and expectations for contact. In consecut ive group interviews, participants were quizzed about their knowledge, experiences and expectations associated with social interactions with people belonging to ethnic minority groups. The information obtained from the participants was analyzed by using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative techniques in order to discover underlying dimensions in their responses. The results confirmed our prediction by displaying different associations between di f- ferent types of contact (e.g., positive, negative) and th e representations of minorities according to their position in the perceived social hierarchy. Findings are discussed in terms of their potential implications for contact interventions."