Value Priorities and Readiness for Out-Group Social Contact

Relations of individuals' value priorities to their readiness for out-group social contact were examined in dominant and minority groups. Study 1 examined readiness of 151 Israeli Jewish teachers (dominant group) for contact with Israeli Arabs (minority). Readiness correlated positively with emphasizing universalism and self-direction values and negatively with emphasizing tradition, security, and conformity values. This confirmed an integrated set of hypotheses from S.H. Schwartz's (1992) value theory. Study 2 examined readiness of Israeli Arab Muslim (N = 111) and Christian (N = 88) teachers for contact with Israeli Jews. Hypotheses took account of differences between the two Arab minorities in motivation to integrate into the dominant society versus to preserve their uniqueness. Correlations with values confirmed most hypotheses.