Research has suggested that intergroup contact can ironically lead to a reduction in commitment to social change and that threat can play an important role in this process. In post-agreement societies, however, characterized more so by symbolic rather than material conflict, the role that intergroup contact and threat play in social action may be particularly complex. This article examines intergroup contact, intergroup threat, support for political violence, and political participation among a student sample (n = 152) of Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. Results show that contact is associated with lower symbolic and realistic threat for both groups and to lower levels of support for political violence but not to political participation. Symbolic threat mediated the association between contact and support for political violence and between contact and political participation for the Protestant majority group only. This suggests that contact may have a positive effect upon group relations but that this is dependent upon status and the social–political context.

中文翻译：

---

超越群体间接触的讽刺：接触和威胁对北爱尔兰政治参与和支持政治暴力的影响。

研究表明，具有讽刺意味的是，群体间接触会导致对社会变革的承诺减少，而这种威胁可以在这一过程中发挥重要作用。然而，在后协议社会中，更多地以象征性而非物质冲突为特征，群体间接触和威胁在社会行动中的作用可能特别复杂。本文研究了北爱尔兰新教徒和天主教徒的学生样本 (n = 152) 中的群体间接触、群体间威胁、对政治暴力的支持和政治参与。结果表明，接触与两个群体的象征性和现实威胁较低以及对政治暴力的支持水平较低有关，但与政治参与无关。象征性威胁介导了接触和支持政治暴力之间的联系，以及接触和政治参与之间的联系，仅适用于新教多数群体。这表明接触可能对群体关系产生积极影响，但这取决于地位和社会政治背景。