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Question

‘Contact Hypothesis’ is based on the belief that :

This question was previously asked in
UGC NET 2016 Paper 3 Management Question Paper (22-Jan-2017)
The correct answer is

the more we interact with someone, the less prejudiced or perceptually biased we will be against that person

Option 1 — the more we interact with someone, the less prejudiced or perceptually biased we will be against that person is correct.

The Contact Hypothesis, developed most influentially by Gordon Allport (1954), holds that direct interpersonal contact between members of different groups tends to reduce prejudice, stereotyping and perceptual bias. As people interact, they replace inaccurate group-based assumptions with real, individuating information about the other person, and intergroup hostility declines.

Allport also specified the conditions that make contact most effective: the parties should have roughly equal status in the situation, share common goals, cooperate rather than compete, and enjoy the support of institutions or authorities. Under such conditions, contact is a powerful tool for improving intergroup relations and reducing bias.

Why the other options are wrong: Option 2 (“familiarity breeds contempt”) states the opposite of the hypothesis. Option 3 (contact leads to conflict) again contradicts it. Option 4 (mutual discussion reframes problems) describes a problem-solving or conflict-resolution idea, not the prejudice-reduction premise of the contact hypothesis.

Takeaway: the Contact Hypothesis says well-structured contact between groups lowers prejudice and perceptual bias.

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Similar Questions

  1. The process by which sensory information is actively organised and interpreted by brain, is called :

  2. A relatively stable set of characteristics that influence an individual's behaviour is known as :

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