Chapter 12: Computer-Supported Collaborative Intercultural Education: Creating Bridges for Palestinians and Jews in Conflict

Numerous studies have confirmed Gordon Allport’s (1954) claim that “prejudice … may be reduced by equal-status contact between majority and minority groups in the pursuit of common goals” (p. 24). Allport supported social change through extensive integration towards the achievement of social stability and harmony. Allport’s influential initial articulation of the contact hypothesis has throughout the years evolved into a complex taxonomy of conditions for “good contact” to be possible. The main prescriptions recommended in the contact literature include the following: Contact should be regular and frequent; it should involve a balanced ratio of ingroup to out-group members while allowing for a genuine “acquaintance potential”; it should occur between individuals who share equality of status, and while being institutionally sanctioned it should be organized around cooperation toward the achievement of a superordinate goal.