Supervisor: Wen Zhou, Assistant Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology
Student Researcher
Siyuan Wang is a junior student majoring in psychology from Duke Kunshan University. She has completed all the fundamental courses for her major, together with varied courses in the field of neuroscience and global health. Since August 2022, she has been working as a research assistant in DKU Interspecies Lab researching the cross-cultural contact effects among DKU students. She is mainly respobsible for survey design and data analysis in this current project.
About the Project
Intergroup contact is believed to have the potential to reduce prejudice and improve interracial relations. This study aims to explore the impact of college-based contact on undergraduates’ prejudicial attitudes toward different social and cultural groups at DKU. We found that students at DKU exhibit relatively low levels of social dominance, maintain warm intergroup attitudes, and report lower levels of dehumanization towards outgroup members. These positive tendencies are notably associated with various forms of contact, including teaming up, socializing, and the diversity of their friend groups. This study is part of a longitudinal project conducted through computer-based surveys on Qualtrics, and the data presented here consists of responses collected at the beginning of the academic year 2022-2023.
