The processes underlying the quality of contact with the primary out-group and in-group importance on support for the Syrian resettlement in a post-accord context.

The current socio-political climate of Northern Ireland (NI) presents an intriguing setting to examine how, following a 30-year period of sectarian violence, individuals in a society of protracted inter group conflict respond to other victimized groups. Syrian refugees were identified as the novel out-group due to the 2,000 Syrians refugees to be resettled in NI through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme. This paper was interested in understanding if the perceptions one has about the primary out-group in NI, generalize to a novel out-group entering the setting. It was hypothesized that higher quality of contact with the primary out-group would be positively related to support for Syrian resettlement in NI, whereas as in-group importance would be negatively related to this outcome. Moreover, the authors wanted to identify potential mechanisms through which the predictor variables influenced support for the Syrian resettlement. Participants (N=378, M=27.40, SD= 11.31 years;70% female; 58% Catholic, 42% Protestant) were recruited from community groups,local businesses, and universities. The results of the chain mediation models indicated the quality of contact with the primary out-group and in-group importance were related(positively and negatively, respectively) with support for the Syrian resettlement via perspective taking and inter group attitudes. These findings highlight that interventions to improve inter group attitudes may facilitate support prior to and during resettlement.Application and relevance to social policies related to refugee resettlement are discussed.