Crossing the divide: Promoting confidence in contact in a diverse society.

We are living in an increasingly diverse world, an exciting prospect giventhat positive interactions between people from different social groups have numerousbenefits. Unfortunately, however, people often fail to engage in such interactions.Moreover, there is evidence that prejudice, both at an individual and a societal level,remains prevalent. To navigate the diverse world in which we live and, in turn, promote positive intergroup relations, it is important to develop skills and beliefs that willenable us to engage confidently in cross-group relationships. This article will highlightresearch which demonstrates some of the many benefits of engaging in intergroupcontact, from more positive intergroup relations to broader changes in the way wethink. The importance of promoting confidence at engaging in contact and its potential predictors and outcomes will be considered. Finally, interventions—specificallyextended contact, imagined contact and online contact or e-contact—will be outlinedthat can help to make people more confident, and in turn more likely to engage insuccessful interactions with people from different backgrounds to themselves.