The reduction of prejudice towards Gypsies in real life: Effects of visiting the exhibition "Vidas Gitanas (Lungo Drom)"

• Main Authors: Ana Urbiola, Guillermo B. Willis, Josefa Ruiz-Romero, Miguel Moya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2014-03-01
• Series: Psychosocial Intervention
• Online Access: http://www.copmadrid.org/webcopm/publicaciones/social/in2014v23n1a2.pdf

The Gypsy population is one of the groups that are most discriminated against in Spain. In this research, we studied the impact of the visit to the exhibition Vidas Gitanas (Gypsy Lives) on undergraduate students'prejudice towards Gypsies. This exhibition was organized with the aim of providing a realistic vision of this population and its culture and to alleviate the lack of knowledge about the reality of Gypsies. In this study 91 participants were exposed to one of two different conditions: visiting the exhibition or control group. Participants showed a better evaluation of Gypsies after visiting the exposition than before. Moreover, compared to the control group, participants who visited the exhibition showed a better evaluation and a greater inclusion of Gypsies within the superordinate social category "Spaniards". These results are discussed in the light of different strategies on prejudice reduction.