ORIGINAL ARTICLE Imagined contact in high conflict settings: The role of ethnic group identification and the perspective of minority group members Sabahat Cigdem Bagci | Zeynep Ecem Piyale | Efsane Ebcim Department of Psychology, Isik University Correspondence Sabahat Cigdem Bagci, Department of Psychology, Isik University 34980 Sile/ Istanbul, Turkey Email: cigdem.bagci@isikun.edu.tr Funding information Isik University (Scientific Research Project Grant at Isik University, BAP), Grant/Award Number: 15B101 Abstract Recent contact literature has shown that imagining a positive intergroup encounter improves inter- group attitudes and behaviors, yet less is known about the effects of imagined contact in high conflict settings. We conducted three studies to understand the potential effects of imagined intergroup contact among ethnic Turks (majority status) and ethnic Kurds (minority status) in the Turkish-Kurdish interethnic conflict setting. Study 1 (N 5 47, Turkish) tested standard imagined contact effects (neutral vs. standard imagined contact condition) among majority Turks and showed that imagined contact was effective on outgroup attitudes, perceived threat, intergroup anxiety, and support for multiculturalism only among participants with higher ethnic identification. Study 2 (N 5 107, Turkish) examined how ethnic identification of the contact partner would influ- ence the effectiveness of the standard imagined contact scenario (neutral vs. standard vs. ethnic identification condition) and demonstrated that imagined contact effects were more negative when the contact partner identified with his/her ethnic group during imagined contact. Study 3 (N 5 55, Kurdish) investigated imagined contact effects (neutral vs. standard imagined contact con- dition) among an ethnic minority group and showed that imagined contact did not improve minority group members’ outgroup attitudes, but did decrease intergroup anxiety and perceived discrimination (marginally significantly) and increased perceived positive attitudes from the major- ity group. Practical implications of the use of imagined intergroup contact strategy in conflict- ridden settings were discussed. 1 | INTRODUCTION In a world where intractable conflict between groups still exists and many disadvantaged groups suffer from the detrimental effects of dis- crimination, prejudice-reduction interventions are critical to build inter- group harmony and peace. Intergroup relations scholars have shown positive intergroup contact to be an effective strategy that consistently promotes positive intergroup relationships (e.g., Allport, 1954; Pettigrew, 1997; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006; Tropp & Pettigrew, 2005). Recent improvements in this research area have demonstrated that not only direct forms of contact are effective on attitudes, but also indirect forms of intergroup contact such as extended contact (Wright, Aron, McLaughlin-Volpe, & Ropp, 1997) and imagined contact (Turner, Crisp, & Lambert, 2007) are able to foster intergroup relationships. Particu- larly, imagined intergroup contact has been shown to be a practical and effective intervention strategy to improve attitudes and behaviors toward various disadvantaged groups in the society, including the elderly, immigrants, schizophrenics, and homosexuals (e.g., Abrams et al., 2008; Turner, West, & Christie, 2013), providing many of the pre- viously identified benefits of direct contact (e.g., Turner & Crisp, 2010; Vezzali, Capozza, Giovannini, & Stathi, 2012). Imagined contact has been suggested to be an advantageous strategy to improve positive outgroup attitudes especially in settings characterized by high levels of intergroup conflict, yet few studies to our knowledge have examined imagined contact effects within such settings (Husnu & Crisp, 2010a,2015) and in particular investigated its effects among minority status groups (but see Stathi & Crisp, 2008). The current study aims to extend imagined contact literature by presenting findings from three studies conducted within the Turkish-Kurdish intergroup conflict setting. J Appl Soc Psychol. 2018;48:3–14. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jasp V C 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. | 3 Received: 29 June 2017 | Revised: 13 September 2017 | Accepted: 4 October 2017 DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12485