Bringing contact interventions to the lab: Effects of brief bilateral discussions on interethnic trust in Senegal

The contact hypothesis posits that interaction with outgroup members can reduce prejudice and improve intergroup relations. While the overall effects of contact have been found to be positive, some studies have found null or even negative effects. We aim to contribute to the understanding of the scope conditions of contact interventions, by singling out the effects of a common component of all existing contact interventions, namely bilateral discussions. Our brief contact is found to be effective in increasing interethnic trust toward the individuals met during the intervention, in line with previous results from longer interventions. However, the results do not generalize to the collective level. Our heterogeneity analyses fail to find evidence of heterogeneity in the treatment effect. • We examine the effects of brief interethnic contact in Northern Senegal. • The contact treatment consists of a structured discussion replicable across contexts. • Contact increases trust in the interaction partner but does not reduce ingroup bias. • We do not find evidence of statistically significant heterogeneity.