The Paradox of Contact: Better Minority Interactions Strengthen—Not Weaken—Race-Based Trait Associations

While intergroup contact theory traditionally focuses on prejudice reduction, intergroup contactmay paradoxically increase consensus in race-based thinking of others. We measured individuals’mental representations of how personality traits interrelate for different racial groups atconceptual (abstract) and perceptual (face-based) levels. Stereotype structure alignment wasdefined as the extent to which an individual’s trait associations across racial group members alignwith group-typical structures averaged across all participants, capturing shared perceptions. In amultiracial Singapore sample (N = 153), quality contact (but not quantity) predicted strongeralignment with shared trait structures for ethnic minorities. Specifically, higher quality contactwith minority groups (e.g., Malays) predicted greater convergence in abstract trait associations(but not face-based representations). These findings challenge assumptions about contact’s de-stereotyping effects. Quality contact appears to help people develop more culturally informedtrait representations, which shape face perception, revealing a paradox in how intergroup contactinfluences stereotype structure alignment.