An analysis of the intergroup contact, friendship, empathy, anxiety and attitudes of university students from different backgrounds in their dormitory life.

The main aim of this research is to examine to the extent to which university students with different social identity categories (Turkish/Kurdish) living/staying in the same university dormitory room cross-group friendship, cross-group contact, cross-group contact empathy, cross-group attitude and, cross-group contact anxiety. The research was designed as a qualitative study utilizing phenomenological approach. The research was conducted through face to face interviews with the students. A total of 45 students, who identified themselves as Turkish (22) and Kurdish (23) in terms of ethnic and cultural sub-identities. The participants were interviewed and qualitative data were collected. Semi-structured interview technique was utilized to collect data in the study. In the analysis of qualitative data, both content and thematic analyses were performed. In this study, it was seen that students who have Turkish / Kurdish social identity develop positive contact with each other, develop a cross-group friendship with each other. In this way, they develop empathy for the outgroup, decrease intergroup anxiety, increase intergroup attitudes and, decrease intergroup prejudice. It was found that when students with Turkish / Kurdish social identity come into negative contact with each other, it was observed that the empathy towards the external group decreased, the anxiety increased and the negative group attitudes developed. Besides, the decrease in the visibility of social identities in the dormitory room, the formation of a superordinate identity and the increase in the frequency and quality of the activities performed together were found to be more positively related to inter-group contact and intergroup attitudes in the dormitory room. It was found out that the narrations revealed that, the majority of students associated "being human" with the common ingroup identity. Nevertheless, more visible social identities and increased political discourse were found to be associated with negative contact between groups, increased anxiety and negative attitudes. Keywords: Cross-Group Friendship, İntergroup Contact, İntergroup Empathy, İntergroup Anxiety, İntergroup Attitudes, Social İdentity, Superordinate İdentity.