Secondary transfer effect of positive and negative online contact between groups involved in high-intensity conflict

Israeli Jews and Palestinians are involved in a high-intensity, overt, violent conflict, in which Israeli Palestinians can be considered a mediating group, which shares a citizenship with Israeli Jews and an ethnicity with non-Israeli Palestinians. The current research examines (1) the primary effects of online contact between Israeli Jews and Israeli Palestinians on attitudes towards the Israeli Palestinians; (2) the Secondary Transfer Effect (STE) of online contact between Israeli Jews and Israeli Palestinians on attitudes of the former toward non-Israeli Palestinians. The study was conducted through an online survey of 450 Israeli Jews aged 18–35. It revealed direct positive effect of online contact with Israeli Palestinians on attitudes towards them, if this contact was defined by respondents as positive, and negative effect if the contact was defined as negative. We found evidence of STE of online contact with Israeli Palestinians (primary out-group) on attitudes toward non-Israeli Palestinians (secondary out-group) for positive contact, but no evidence of STE was found when the contact was negative. The relationship between the frequency of online positive contact with the primary out-group and attitudes toward the secondary outgroup was fully mediated by attitudes toward the primary, encountered out-group, namely, via a process of attitude generalization. This paper adds to a growing body of research on STEs of intergroup contact considering a previously unexplored STE of positive and negative online contact. The study revealed that the potential of Internet and online contacts might be used to increase solidarity and understanding within and between nations.