Abstract

Contact with sexually diverse people predicts attitude transformation towards the whole group membership (i.e., the primary transfer effect) and may potentially generalize to other group memberships (i.e., The secondary transfer effect). However, the effect of contact may extend beyond this known attitudinal transformation, comprising also cognitive growth and likely impact other types of psychological outcomes or Tertiary Transfer Effect (TTE). This study used a cross-sectional design with a convenient sample of respondents of gay (N = 320) and heterosexual (N = 320) sexual orientation to test whether the relationship between contact with sexual minorities and well-being was accounted for by positive stereotype content and cognitive flexibility. Mediation analyses corroborated a small but significant indirect effect of positive stereotype content and cognitive flexibility sequentially, within the relationship between contact and well-being, both in heterosexual and gay participants. Thus, partially supporting the hypothesized TTE of contact in this sample. The study of TTE is still in its infancy, future research would benefit from exploring the effect of contact as a promising tool to promote psychological well-being in both parts involved within the social exchange. It may be profitable for anti-prejudice efforts to incorporate this generalization principle to expand the reach of inclusion programs targeting sexual minorities.