Intergroup contact and intergroup relations: the role of morality in the secondary transfer effect of acculturation processes

This research project adapted the Secondary Transfer Effect (STE) paradigm to the study of natives’ acculturation processes, with the aim of fostering social harmony in Italy’s multicultural context. Across four studies, we examined the mediating roles of moral distance, acculturation orientations towards a primary outgroup, and multicultural ideology, employing experimental paradigms of imagined contact and morality-framed mass media contact. Findings consistently demonstrated the applicability of the STE to acculturation dynamics: positive interaction with a specific migrant group is negatively associated with perceived moral distance toward that group, which in turn was positively linked to assimilationist preferences and negatively with integration-oriented behaviours toward secondary outgroups. These effects were partly explained by greater integrationist orientations toward the primary outgroup and stronger endorsement of multicultural ideology. While imagined contact manipulations did not yield significant effects, media-based moral contact reliably reduced moral distance and promoted more positive acculturation orientations. Overall, the results highlight morality as a key mechanism in generalised acculturation processes and highlight the value of the STE paradigm for advancing social harmony in multicultural societies such as Italy. Implications for integration policies, intergroup interventions, and media practices are discussed.