The Effect of Inter-Sectarian Contact among Lebanese citizens on Collective Action Tendencies for a Civil State

Abstract

Over the last decade, there has been a growing debate in social psychology on whether inter-group contact and collective action are compatible models of social change. Research on these two models has led to a recognition of some ‘sedative’ effects that prejudice reduction interventions have on collective action tendencies of disadvantaged groups.

To help address this debate, the present research argues that the effects of inter-group contact on collective action depend on the nature and the context of intergroup relations. As such the current research proposes that in some contexts positive intergroup contact between members of conflicting groups can motivate collective action against a common oppressive system through reducing sectarian in-group bias.

Using an online survey, we collected data from 333 Lebanese citizens from different sects. We tested a moderated mediation model with frequent intergroup contact between friends from different sects as the independent variable, sectarianism as mediator, political partisanship as a moderator, and collective action intentions for a civil state in Lebanon as the dependent variable.

The results confirmed the proposed model by showing a significant indirect effect of frequent positive intergroup contact between Lebanese citizens from different sects on collective action intentions for a civil state through the reduction of sectarianism. This indirect effect was also found to be significantly conditional upon political partisanship such that the relationship between contact and sectarianism was found to be stronger among partisans compared to non-partisans

This study further advances the research on prejudice reduction and collective action models of social change by presenting yet additional evidence of the compatibility of these two models in challenging systems of inequality in particular contexts. Overall, these results indirectly suggest that segregation of regions along sectarian lines is associated with the maintenance of the sectarian political system in Lebanon. As such, creating and protecting opportunities and spaces in which inter-sectarian friendships can develop could help in reducing sectarian biases and could, on the long-run, eventually feed into collective attempts to challenge the sectarian political system.