Prejudice and Social Contact in South Africa: A Study of Integrated Schools Ten Years after Apartheid

Abstract

In this article the relationship between intergroup contact and racial prejudice in formerly segregated schools in Cape Town, South Africa, is investigated. A total of 1 119 black African, coloured, Afrikaans-speaking and English-speaking white learners were surveyed, using three measures of intergroup prejudice, a self-report intergroup contact measure and a racial identification scale. In general, quality of contact with individuals of other race groups and an increase in contact both in and outside of the school improved learners' race attitudes. Higher levels of demographic integration within schools were also positively related to race attitudes, but a high degree of identification with one's own race led in several instances to less positive attitudes towards other race groups. Intergroup contact seemed to be the single most important predictor of attitudes for all four groups in this study.