BACK AND TO THE FUTURE - THE INTERGROUP CONTACT HYPOTHESIS REVISITED

This article discusses definitional and methodological problems which have marked the forty-year history of the Allport-Pettigrew contact hy pothesis and reports on a study of biracial private neighborhoods at t wo points in time, including tests of all four enhancing conditions of the hypothesis. Findings indicate that though interracial visiting an d prejudice are inversely related, more strongly for whites than for b lacks, support for the hypothesized qualifying conditions is stronger for blacks. Duration in the contact situation and age of the responden t are examined as tests of differential selection and as possible expl anations for anomalous findings. New directions, guided by recent mode ls and by reformulations of traditional frameworks, are suggested.