Directory

John Dixon | The Open University - Academia.edu

Skip to main content

John Dixon

The Open University, Psychology, Faculty Member

Followers

272

Following

21

Co-authors

19

Public Views

Queen's University Belfast

Fearghus O'Sullivan

Queen's University Belfast

Eleni Andreouli

The Open University

Anastasia Zisakou

Clifford Stevenson

Nottingham Trent University

InterestsView All (7)

Uploads

Papers by John Dixon

Empirical Agent-Based Modelling for exploring Intergroup Contact in a Segregated Society

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Apr 6, 2021

Agent-based modelling has a long history of application in the study of segregation, but is rarel... more Agent-based modelling has a long history of application in the study of segregation, but is rarely deployed beyond the examination of residential segregation. This study leverages multiple datasets: including census, survey, PGIS and GPS traces; in order to create an empirical agent-based model for the exploration of mobility practices between segregated communities in Belfast (Northern Ireland). In doing so, we are able to conduct novel examinations into the impact of day-today mobility choices upon intergroup attitudes and activity-space segregation; with policy implications for understanding and combatting segregation in cities around the world.

Space, Place, and Identity: Issues for Political Psychology

Political Psychology, 2006

In his discussion of the role of place in Serbian identity, White (1996) distinguished between de... more In his discussion of the role of place in Serbian identity, White (1996) distinguished between demographic and psychological definitions of belonging and highlighted the importance of this distinction for understanding and resolving ethno-national conflict. He argued that well-meaning attempts to redraw territorial boundaries of the Balkans have often been based on questionable assumptions about the relationship between people and place. Notably, policymakers have presumed that such boundaries should be coincidental with established demographic patterns. That is, they have attempted to impose a geopolitical system that is efficient in keeping members of the same groups physically together, whilst holding members of different groups apart. The problem with this approach, White argues, is that it overlooks the psychological dimension of place identification, which does not necessarily follow a pragmatic or demographic logic. Taking Serbian identity as a case study, he suggests that many Serbs continue to hold intense emotional and cultural attachments to sites in Old Serbia (Raska and Kosovo), Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia. Although these regions do not contain large numbers of Serbs today, they remain deeply symbolic of Serbian values and history and are the subject of celebratory practices that range from poetry to mass pilgrimage. With disturbing prescience, White concluded his analysis by observing that: "One of the reasons that peacemakers are having difficulty solving the conflict in the Balkans stems from the fact that they treat place and territory as mere commodities. They fail to recognise long-held relationships that ethnic groups and nations have with places and territories. . ." (1996, p. 51).

Ironies of proximity: Intergroup threat and contact avoidance on neighbourhood interface areas

by John Dixon and John Dixon

Journal of Applied Social and Community Psychology., 2023

Research on the dynamics of neighbourhood desegregation and diversity has identified a paradox. O... more Research on the dynamics of neighbourhood desegregation
and diversity has identified a paradox. On the one hand,
such processes may engender positive intergroup contact
experiences, improving intergroup attitudes and relations.
On the other hand, they may have the opposite effect,
exacerbating negative intergroup relations and generating
new forms of avoidance and exclusion. The present
research explored one aspect of this paradox. Building on a
field survey conducted with Indian residents (n = 364) of a
suburb of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, we demonstrate
how their relative proximity to areas occupied by ‘incoming’
Black African residents has shaped their perceptions of
intergroup threat and associated reactions such as contact
avoidance, boundary fortification and support for policies
resisting desegregation. At the same time, we demonstrate
how such effects are moderated by residents' wider
experiences of positive interracial contact. In conclusion, we
emphasize the need to better integrate psychological work
on the contact hypothesis with work in companion
disciplines such as urban studies and human geography.

Fuzzy Bayesian inference for mapping vague and place-based regions: A case study of sectarian territory.

International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 2023

The problem of mapping regions with socially-derived boundaries has been a topic of discussion in... more The problem of mapping regions with socially-derived boundaries
has been a topic of discussion in the GIS literature for many years.
Fuzzy approaches have frequently been suggested as solutions,
but none have been adopted. This is likely due to difficulties associated
with determining suitable membership functions, which are
often as arbitrary as the crisp boundaries that they seek to replace.
This paper presents a novel approach to fuzzy geographical modelling
that replaces the membership function with a possibility distribution
that is estimated using Bayesian inference. In this
method, data from multiple sources are combined to estimate the
degree to which a given location is a member of a given set and
the level of uncertainty associated with that estimate. The Fuzzy
Bayesian Inference approach is demonstrated through a case
study in which census data are combined with perceptual and
behavioural evidence to model the territory of two segregated
groups (Catholics and Protestants) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
This novel method provides a robust empirical basis for the use of
fuzzy models in GIS, and therefore has applications for mapping a
range of socially-derived and otherwise vague boundaries.

Navigating the divided city: Place identity and the time-geography of segregation

Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2022

Research on segregation has expanded beyond its traditional focus on the residential demography o... more Research on segregation has expanded beyond its traditional focus on the residential demography of cities to explore how, why and with what consequences segregation manifests within activity spaces outside the home. As part of this shift, researchers have become increasingly interested in the time geography of residents’ everyday mobility practices. Building on this work, the present paper explores the role of place identity dynamics in shaping how Catholic and Protestant residents navigate everyday spaces over time in the historically divided city of Belfast. To do so, we employ a novel combination of walking interviews (n=33), GPS tracking, GIS visualizations, and photo-elicitation. By recovering residents’ lived experiences of moving through the sensuous, material, and symbolic landscapes of the city, we show how the interrelated dynamics of place belonging and alienation influence their mobility choices in ways that maintain sectarian divisions. We also show how the concept of place identity enriches the materialist notion of mobility ‘constraints’ that has characterized most time geographic work on segregation. In conclusion, we suggest that interventions to promote desegregation must transform not only relations between different communities, but also relations between community members and the activity spaces in which their everyday movements are embedded.

Understanding How and Why Spatial Segregation Endures: A Systematic Review of Recent Research on Intergroup Relations at a Micro-Ecological Scale

Social Psychology Bulletin, 2019

Social psychological research has increasingly extolled the benefits of intergroup contact as a m... more Social psychological research has increasingly extolled the benefits of intergroup contact as a means of promoting positive relations. However, a growing body of research suggests that formal policies of desegregation are often offset by informal ‘micro-ecological’ practices of (re)-segregation, in everyday life spaces. This paper presents a systematic literature review of recent evidence on this topic (2001-2017), outlining key findings about how, when, where, and why microecological divisions are reproduced. Informal segregation can happen based on ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, gender, or gender and ethnicity, despite people being in a shared place. People generally maintain patterns of ingroup isolation as a result of: a) negative attitudes and
stereotypes; b) ingroup identification and threat; or c) feelings of anxiety, fear and insecurity. Educational settings have been the main context studied, followed by leisure and recreational places, public urban places and public transport. The paper also identifies three areas of potential future research, highlighting the need to: (1) capitalise on methodological innovations; (2) explore systematically how, when and why the intersectionality of social categories may shape microecological practices of contact and separation; and (3) understand more fully why micro-ecological patterns of segregation are apparently so persistent, as well as how they might be reduced.

Everyday dehumanization: Negative contact, humiliation, and the lived experience of being treated as 'less than human'

by John Dixon and Amy J Murray

British Journal of Social Psychology, 2021

The contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954) proposes that regular interaction between members of diffe... more The contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954) proposes that regular interaction between members of different groups tends to improve intergroup attitudes, particularly when such interaction occurs under facilitating conditions (e.g., when it involves participants of equal status interacting cooperatively). This in turn

Exploring Segregation and Sharing in Belfast: A PGIS Approach

Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 2018

This article presents a novel exploratory investigation into the location and characteristics of ... more This article presents a novel exploratory investigation into the location and characteristics of spaces that are segregated and shared between Protestant and Catholic communities in Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK). Focusing on a particularly segregated part of the city, this study uses state-of-the-art participatory geographic information systems (PGIS) and visualization techniques to create qualitative, bottom-up maps of segregation and sharing within the city, as experienced by the people who live there. In doing so, it identifies important and previously unreported patterns in segregation and sharing between sectarian communities, challenging normative approaches to PGIS and illustrating how alternative methods might provide deeper insights into complex social geographies such as those of segregation. Finally, the findings of this work are formulated into a set of hypotheses that can contribute to a future research agenda into segregation and sharing, both in Belfast and in other divided cities.

Negotiating the ground: ‘Mobilizing’ a divided field site in the post-conflict City

Mobilities, 2018

While an exploration of mobility patterns in ‘post-conflict’ societies has much to tell us about ... more While an exploration of mobility patterns in ‘post-conflict’ societies has much to tell us about how division is produced through ordinary activities, less work has considered the practical application of a mobilities ‘lens’ during fieldwork in such contexts. Negotiating the ground in highly polarized contexts presents a unique array of challenges, but also offers opportunities to make use of
mobile methodologies. This paper discusses the advantages of GPS-based technologies and walking interviews to a recent activity-space segregation study in
Belfast, Northern Ireland, and reflects on methodological issues posed by the ‘postconflict’ field site.

Negative contact, collective action, and social change: Critical reflections, technological advances, and new directions

Journal of Social Issues, 2021

Intergroup contact research has expanded exponentially in the last few decades, with researchers ... more Intergroup contact research has expanded exponentially in the last few decades, with researchers employing a widening range of methods to offer new insights into the effects of both positive and negative contact experiences. In this commentary, we discuss the contributions of three papers to this special issue of the Journal of Social Issues on advances in intergroup contact research, namely Schäfer et al.'s (2021) review of research on negative intergroup contact experiences, Hässler et al.'s (2020) review of research on intergroup contact and social change, and O'Donnell et al.'s (2021) review of technological and analytic advances in contact research. Having outlined the key arguments of each paper, we then offer some theoretical and method-ological reflections, also discussing potential gaps, connections , opportunities, and future directions along the way. We end by reflecting on a common theme that permeates our commentary: the need to contextualize adequately the dynamics of intergroup contact across a range of everyday settings. Here we argue that to fully understand how to promote beneficial forms of intergroup contact , we need to consider more carefully how contact is experienced, enacted, and evaluated "on the ground" by participants themselves. This requires work of both theoretical and methodological innovation.

The principle-implementation gap in attitudes towards racial inequality (and how to close it)

by John Dixon and Kevin Durrheim

Advances in Political Psychology

Research on attitudes towards racial equality has identified an apparent paradox, sometimes desc... more Research on attitudes towards racial equality has identified an apparent paradox, sometimes described as the ‘Principle-Implementation gap’. White Americans accept equality as an ideal yet reject interventions designed to achieve that ideal. In this paper, we provide a critical review of empirical and theoretical work in the field and outline some directions for future research. Drawing on a programme of research conducted in post-apartheid South Africa, we argue for the value of: (1) widening the field beyond its traditional focus on white policy attitudes in the United States; (2) developing relational models that encompass more fully the perspectives of historically disadvantaged as well as historically advantaged communities; (3) making greater use of methods that elucidate how ordinary people themselves construct the meaning of the Principle-Implementation gap and how this informs, and indeed justifies and normalises, associated patterns of behaviour; and (4) prioritizing the difficult question of how to promote social change in societies where most citizens embrace equality as a noble end but often reject the means through which it might be accomplished. With regards to the latter – and given the ascendancy of prejudice-based explanations of the Principle-Implementation gap - the paper evaluates in particular some strengths and limitations of a prejudice-reduction model of social change.

'Thinking ill of others without sufficient warrant'? Transcending the accuracy-inaccuracy dualism in prejudice and stereotyping research

British Journal of Social Psychology, 2017

Research on prejudice seeks to understand and transform inaccurate beliefs about others. Indeed, ... more Research on prejudice seeks to understand and transform inaccurate beliefs about others. Indeed, historically such research has offered a cautionary tale of the biased nature of human cognition. Recently, however, this view has been challenged by work defending the essential rationality of intergroup perception, a theme captured controversially in Jussim and colleagues’ (2009) research on the ‘unbearable accuracy of stereotyping’. The present paper argues that in its own terms the ‘rationalist turn’ in socio-cognitive research on stereotyping presents an important challenge to the prejudice tradition, raising troubling questions about its conceptual and empirical foundations. However, it also argues for the necessity of transcending those terms. By focusing on the correspondence between individual beliefs and the supposedly ‘objective’ characteristics of others, we neglect the historical and discursive practices through which the social realities that we ‘perceive’ are actively constructed and institutionalized. We mask their social origins, contested and perspectival nature, relativity, and relationship to wider structures of power. By implication, moving beyond the Allportian perspective that has dominated both the prejudice tradition and the emerging stereotype accuracy paradigm, we may now need to prioritize other kinds of questions. Reversing Allport’s famous definition of prejudice, it may now be time to ask: How, and with what consequences, does ‘thinking ill of others’ become sufficiently warranted? How does such thinking become part of institutionalized relations of power and an accepted way of perceiving, evaluating and treating others? What should social psychologists be doing to challenge this state of affairs?

A Liar and a Copycat: Nonverbal Coordination Increases with Lie Difficulty

by John Dixon and Ruth Wong

Royal Society Open Science, 2020

Studies of the nonverbal correlates of deception tend to examine liars’ behaviours as independent... more Studies of the nonverbal correlates of deception tend to examine liars’ behaviours as independent from the behaviour of the interviewer, ignoring joint action. To address this gap, Experiment 1 examined the effect of telling a truth and easy, difficult and very difficult lies on nonverbal coordination. Nonverbal coordination was measured automatically by applying a Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) algorithm to motion-capture data. In Experiment 2, interviewees also received instructions that influenced the attention they paid to either the nonverbal or verbal behaviour of the interviewer. Results from both Experiments found that interviewer-interviewee nonverbal coordination increased with lie difficulty. This increase was not influenced by the degree to which interviewees paid attention to their nonverbal behaviour, nor by the degree of interviewer’s suspicion. Our findings are consistent with the broader proposition that people rely on automated processes such as mimicry when under cognitive load.

Networks of (Dis)connection: Mobility practices, tertiary streets and sectarian divisions in north Belfast

Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 2019

Longstanding tensions between Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland have led to... more Longstanding tensions between Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland have led to high levels of segregation. This paper explores the spaces within which residents of north Belfast move within everyday life and the extent to which these are influenced by segregation. We focus in particular on the role that interconnecting 'tertiary streets' have on patterns of mobility. We adapt Grannis' (1998) concept to define T-communities from sets of interconnecting tertiary streets within north Belfast. These are combined with over 6000 GPS tracks collected from local residents in order to assess the amount of time spent within different spaces. Spaces are divided into areas of residents own community affiliation (ingroup), areas not clearly associated with either community (mixed), or areas of opposing community affiliation (outgroup). We further differentiate space as being either within a T-community or along a section of main road. Our work extends research on T-communities by expanding their role beyond exploring residential preference, to explore instead, networks of (dis)connection through which social divisions are expressed via everyday mobility practices. We conclude that residents are significantly less likely to move within mixed and outgroup areas and that this was especially true within T-communities. It is also evident that residents were more likely to travel along outgroup sections of a main road if they were in a vehicle and that women showed no greater likelihood than men to move within outgroup space. Evidence from GPS tracks also provides insights into some areas where mixing appears to occur.

‘When the walls come tumbling down’: The role of intergroup proximity, threat and contact in shaping attitudes towards the removal of Northern Ireland’s peace walls

British Journal of Social Psychology, 2020

Institutional structures of segregation typically entrench social inequality and sustain wider p... more Institutional structures of segregation typically entrench social inequality and sustain wider patterns of intergroup conflict and discrimination. However, initiatives to dismantle such structures may provoke resistance. Executive proposals to dismantle Northern Ireland’s peace walls by 2023 provide a compelling case study of the nature of such resistance and may thus provide important clues about how it might be overcome. Drawing on a field survey conducted in north Belfast (n = 488), this research explored the role of physical proximity, realistic and symbolic threat, and past experiences of positive and negative cross-community contact on Catholic and Protestant residents’ support for removing the walls. Structural equation modelling suggested that both forms of contact and proximity were significantly related to such support and that these relationships were partially mediated by realistic threat. It also suggested that positive contact moderated the effects of proximity. That is, for residents who had more frequent positive interactions with members of the other community, proximity to a peace wall had a weaker relationship with resistance to their removal than residents who had less frequent contact.

It's not just 'us' versus 'them': Moving beyond binary perspectives on intergroup processes

by John Dixon, Guy Elcheroth, Philippa Kerr, Mai Albzour, and Kevin Durrheim

European Review of Social Psychology, 2020

Most of what we know about the social psychology of intergroup relations has emerged from studies... more Most of what we know about the social psychology of intergroup relations has emerged from studies of how one group of people (e.g., whites) think and feel about another (e.g., blacks). By reducing the social world to binary categories, this approach has provided a simple, effective and efficient methodological framework. However, it has also obscured some important features of social relations in historically divided and unequal societies. This paper highlights the importance of investigating intergroup relationships involving more than two groups and of exploring not only their psychological but also their political significance. We argue that this shift in focus may illuminate patterns of domination and subordination, collusion and betrayal, solidarity and resistance that have been generally neglected in our field. Developing this argument, we discuss the conditions under which members of historically disadvantaged groups either dissolve into internecine competition or unite to challenge the status quo, highlighting the role of complex forms of social comparison, social identification, intergroup contact, and third-party support for collective action. To conclude, we suggest that binary conceptualizations of intergroup relations should be treated as the product of specific sets of historical and socio-political practices rather than a natural starting point for psychological research and outline some future directions for research.

Xenophobic Violence and 'Struggle' Discourse in South Africa

Journal of Asian and African Studies, 2019

This paper argues that xenophobia in South Africa is entangled in discourses of liberation strugg... more This paper argues that xenophobia in South Africa is entangled in discourses of liberation struggle, which are often used to justify anti-foreigner violence. We first examine some existing academic explanations for xenophobia, namely internalised racism, poverty/inequality, nationalism, and township and informal settlement politics. To avoid deterministically explaining xenophobia as 'caused' by any of these factors, however, we introduce a concept from social psychology, the concept of 'working models of contact'. These are common frames of reference in which contact between groups is understood in terms of shared meanings and values. Xenophobic violence is not caused but instantiated in ways that are explained and justified according to particular understandings of the meaning of the 'citizen-foreigner' relationship. We then review three case studies of xenophobic violence whose perpetrators constructed a model of contact in which African 'foreigners' were undermining the struggles of South Africans in various socioeconomic contexts. We also examine three cases where xenophobic violence was actively discouraged by invoking an inclusive rather than divisive form of struggle discourse. Thus the nature of the struggle itself becomes contested. We conclude by considering some dilemmatic implications that our analysis provokes.

Beyond the two-group paradigm in studies of intergroup conflict and inequality: Third parties and intergroup alliances in xenophobic violence in South Africa

British Journal of Social Psychology, 2017

Social psychologists typically conceptualize intergroup processes in terms of unequal pairs of s... more Social psychologists typically conceptualize intergroup processes in terms of unequal
pairs of social categories, such as an advantaged majority (e.g., ‘Whites’) and a
disadvantaged minority (e.g., ‘Blacks’). We argue that this two-group paradigm may
obscure the workings of intergroup power by overlooking: (1) the unique dynamics of
intergroup relations involving three or more groups, and (2) the way some two-group
relationships function as strategic alliances that derive meaning from their location within a wider relational context. We develop this argument through a field study conducted in a grape-farming town in South Africa in 2009, focusing on an episode of xenophobic violence in which a Zimbabwean farm worker community was forcibly evicted from their homes by their South African neighbours. Discursive analysis of interview accounts of the nature and origins of this violence shows how an ostensibly binary ‘xenophobic’ conflict between foreign and South African farm labourers was partially constituted through both groups’ relationship with a third party who were neither victims nor perpetrators of the actual violence, namely White farmers. We highlight some potential political consequences of defaulting to a two-group paradigm in intergroup conflict studies.

Networks of (Dis)connection: Mobility Practices, Tertiary Streets, and Sectarian Divisions in North Belfast

Annals of the American Association of Geographers. , 2019

Long-standing tensions between Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland have led t... more Long-standing tensions between Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland have led to high levels of segregation. This article explores the spaces within which residents of north Belfast move within everyday life and the extent to which these are influenced by segregation. We focus in particular on the role that interconnecting tertiary streets have on patterns of mobility. We adapt Grannis’s (1998) concept to define T-communities from sets of interconnecting tertiary streets within north Belfast. These are combined with more than 6,000 Global Positioning System (GPS) tracks collected from local residents to assess the amount of time spent within different spaces. Spaces are divided into areas of residents’ own community affiliations (in-group), areas not clearly associated with either community (mixed), or areas of opposing community affiliation (out-group). We further differentiate space as being either within a T-community or along a section of main road. Our work extends research on T-communities by expanding their role beyond exploring residential preference, to explore, instead, networks of (dis)connection through which social divisions are expressed via everyday mobility practices. We conclude that residents are significantly less likely to move within mixed and out-group areas and that this is especially true within T-communities. It is also evident that residents are more likely to travel along out-group sections of a main road if they are in a vehicle and that women show no greater likelihood than men to move within out-group space. Evidence from GPS tracks also provides insights into some areas where mixing appears to occur.

Fostering social change among advantaged and disadvantaged group members: Integrating intergroup contact and social identity perspectives on collective action Article

Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 2019

Recent research on intergroup contact has shown how interactions with outgroup members may both d... more Recent research on intergroup contact has shown how interactions with outgroup members may both decrease and increase motivations to achieve social equality. Similarly, social identity theory has identified the conditions that lead individuals to challenge unequal social systems. Integrating these two major theories, the current study examined the processes underlying the relationship between intergroup contact and participants' willingness to engage in collective action to challenge social inequality. Specifically, we tested sociostructural variables (status legitimacy and stability, and permeability of group boundaries) as potential mediators of contact in a sample of both advantaged (Italian high school students, N = 392) and disadvantaged (immigrant high school students, N = 165) group members. We found that contact was positively associated with motivation for change, an effect mediated by decreased perceived legitimacy of status differences. Moreover, for the advantaged group, membership salience moderated the effects of quality (but not quantity) of contact. Indirect effects were instead not moderated by content of contact (an index considering the extent to which contact was characterized by a focus on differences vs. commonalities between groups). Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed.

Empirical Agent-Based Modelling for exploring Intergroup Contact in a Segregated Society

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Apr 6, 2021

Agent-based modelling has a long history of application in the study of segregation, but is rarel... more Agent-based modelling has a long history of application in the study of segregation, but is rarely deployed beyond the examination of residential segregation. This study leverages multiple datasets: including census, survey, PGIS and GPS traces; in order to create an empirical agent-based model for the exploration of mobility practices between segregated communities in Belfast (Northern Ireland). In doing so, we are able to conduct novel examinations into the impact of day-today mobility choices upon intergroup attitudes and activity-space segregation; with policy implications for understanding and combatting segregation in cities around the world.

Space, Place, and Identity: Issues for Political Psychology

Political Psychology, 2006

In his discussion of the role of place in Serbian identity, White (1996) distinguished between de... more In his discussion of the role of place in Serbian identity, White (1996) distinguished between demographic and psychological definitions of belonging and highlighted the importance of this distinction for understanding and resolving ethno-national conflict. He argued that well-meaning attempts to redraw territorial boundaries of the Balkans have often been based on questionable assumptions about the relationship between people and place. Notably, policymakers have presumed that such boundaries should be coincidental with established demographic patterns. That is, they have attempted to impose a geopolitical system that is efficient in keeping members of the same groups physically together, whilst holding members of different groups apart. The problem with this approach, White argues, is that it overlooks the psychological dimension of place identification, which does not necessarily follow a pragmatic or demographic logic. Taking Serbian identity as a case study, he suggests that many Serbs continue to hold intense emotional and cultural attachments to sites in Old Serbia (Raska and Kosovo), Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia. Although these regions do not contain large numbers of Serbs today, they remain deeply symbolic of Serbian values and history and are the subject of celebratory practices that range from poetry to mass pilgrimage. With disturbing prescience, White concluded his analysis by observing that: "One of the reasons that peacemakers are having difficulty solving the conflict in the Balkans stems from the fact that they treat place and territory as mere commodities. They fail to recognise long-held relationships that ethnic groups and nations have with places and territories. . ." (1996, p. 51).

Ironies of proximity: Intergroup threat and contact avoidance on neighbourhood interface areas

by John Dixon and John Dixon

Journal of Applied Social and Community Psychology., 2023

Research on the dynamics of neighbourhood desegregation and diversity has identified a paradox. O... more Research on the dynamics of neighbourhood desegregation
and diversity has identified a paradox. On the one hand,
such processes may engender positive intergroup contact
experiences, improving intergroup attitudes and relations.
On the other hand, they may have the opposite effect,
exacerbating negative intergroup relations and generating
new forms of avoidance and exclusion. The present
research explored one aspect of this paradox. Building on a
field survey conducted with Indian residents (n = 364) of a
suburb of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, we demonstrate
how their relative proximity to areas occupied by ‘incoming’
Black African residents has shaped their perceptions of
intergroup threat and associated reactions such as contact
avoidance, boundary fortification and support for policies
resisting desegregation. At the same time, we demonstrate
how such effects are moderated by residents' wider
experiences of positive interracial contact. In conclusion, we
emphasize the need to better integrate psychological work
on the contact hypothesis with work in companion
disciplines such as urban studies and human geography.

Fuzzy Bayesian inference for mapping vague and place-based regions: A case study of sectarian territory.

International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 2023

The problem of mapping regions with socially-derived boundaries has been a topic of discussion in... more The problem of mapping regions with socially-derived boundaries
has been a topic of discussion in the GIS literature for many years.
Fuzzy approaches have frequently been suggested as solutions,
but none have been adopted. This is likely due to difficulties associated
with determining suitable membership functions, which are
often as arbitrary as the crisp boundaries that they seek to replace.
This paper presents a novel approach to fuzzy geographical modelling
that replaces the membership function with a possibility distribution
that is estimated using Bayesian inference. In this
method, data from multiple sources are combined to estimate the
degree to which a given location is a member of a given set and
the level of uncertainty associated with that estimate. The Fuzzy
Bayesian Inference approach is demonstrated through a case
study in which census data are combined with perceptual and
behavioural evidence to model the territory of two segregated
groups (Catholics and Protestants) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
This novel method provides a robust empirical basis for the use of
fuzzy models in GIS, and therefore has applications for mapping a
range of socially-derived and otherwise vague boundaries.

Navigating the divided city: Place identity and the time-geography of segregation

Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2022

Research on segregation has expanded beyond its traditional focus on the residential demography o... more Research on segregation has expanded beyond its traditional focus on the residential demography of cities to explore how, why and with what consequences segregation manifests within activity spaces outside the home. As part of this shift, researchers have become increasingly interested in the time geography of residents’ everyday mobility practices. Building on this work, the present paper explores the role of place identity dynamics in shaping how Catholic and Protestant residents navigate everyday spaces over time in the historically divided city of Belfast. To do so, we employ a novel combination of walking interviews (n=33), GPS tracking, GIS visualizations, and photo-elicitation. By recovering residents’ lived experiences of moving through the sensuous, material, and symbolic landscapes of the city, we show how the interrelated dynamics of place belonging and alienation influence their mobility choices in ways that maintain sectarian divisions. We also show how the concept of place identity enriches the materialist notion of mobility ‘constraints’ that has characterized most time geographic work on segregation. In conclusion, we suggest that interventions to promote desegregation must transform not only relations between different communities, but also relations between community members and the activity spaces in which their everyday movements are embedded.

Understanding How and Why Spatial Segregation Endures: A Systematic Review of Recent Research on Intergroup Relations at a Micro-Ecological Scale

Social Psychology Bulletin, 2019

Social psychological research has increasingly extolled the benefits of intergroup contact as a m... more Social psychological research has increasingly extolled the benefits of intergroup contact as a means of promoting positive relations. However, a growing body of research suggests that formal policies of desegregation are often offset by informal ‘micro-ecological’ practices of (re)-segregation, in everyday life spaces. This paper presents a systematic literature review of recent evidence on this topic (2001-2017), outlining key findings about how, when, where, and why microecological divisions are reproduced. Informal segregation can happen based on ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, gender, or gender and ethnicity, despite people being in a shared place. People generally maintain patterns of ingroup isolation as a result of: a) negative attitudes and
stereotypes; b) ingroup identification and threat; or c) feelings of anxiety, fear and insecurity. Educational settings have been the main context studied, followed by leisure and recreational places, public urban places and public transport. The paper also identifies three areas of potential future research, highlighting the need to: (1) capitalise on methodological innovations; (2) explore systematically how, when and why the intersectionality of social categories may shape microecological practices of contact and separation; and (3) understand more fully why micro-ecological patterns of segregation are apparently so persistent, as well as how they might be reduced.

Everyday dehumanization: Negative contact, humiliation, and the lived experience of being treated as 'less than human'

by John Dixon and Amy J Murray

British Journal of Social Psychology, 2021

The contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954) proposes that regular interaction between members of diffe... more The contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954) proposes that regular interaction between members of different groups tends to improve intergroup attitudes, particularly when such interaction occurs under facilitating conditions (e.g., when it involves participants of equal status interacting cooperatively). This in turn

Exploring Segregation and Sharing in Belfast: A PGIS Approach

Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 2018

This article presents a novel exploratory investigation into the location and characteristics of ... more This article presents a novel exploratory investigation into the location and characteristics of spaces that are segregated and shared between Protestant and Catholic communities in Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK). Focusing on a particularly segregated part of the city, this study uses state-of-the-art participatory geographic information systems (PGIS) and visualization techniques to create qualitative, bottom-up maps of segregation and sharing within the city, as experienced by the people who live there. In doing so, it identifies important and previously unreported patterns in segregation and sharing between sectarian communities, challenging normative approaches to PGIS and illustrating how alternative methods might provide deeper insights into complex social geographies such as those of segregation. Finally, the findings of this work are formulated into a set of hypotheses that can contribute to a future research agenda into segregation and sharing, both in Belfast and in other divided cities.

Negotiating the ground: ‘Mobilizing’ a divided field site in the post-conflict City

Mobilities, 2018

While an exploration of mobility patterns in ‘post-conflict’ societies has much to tell us about ... more While an exploration of mobility patterns in ‘post-conflict’ societies has much to tell us about how division is produced through ordinary activities, less work has considered the practical application of a mobilities ‘lens’ during fieldwork in such contexts. Negotiating the ground in highly polarized contexts presents a unique array of challenges, but also offers opportunities to make use of
mobile methodologies. This paper discusses the advantages of GPS-based technologies and walking interviews to a recent activity-space segregation study in
Belfast, Northern Ireland, and reflects on methodological issues posed by the ‘postconflict’ field site.

Negative contact, collective action, and social change: Critical reflections, technological advances, and new directions

Journal of Social Issues, 2021

Intergroup contact research has expanded exponentially in the last few decades, with researchers ... more Intergroup contact research has expanded exponentially in the last few decades, with researchers employing a widening range of methods to offer new insights into the effects of both positive and negative contact experiences. In this commentary, we discuss the contributions of three papers to this special issue of the Journal of Social Issues on advances in intergroup contact research, namely Schäfer et al.'s (2021) review of research on negative intergroup contact experiences, Hässler et al.'s (2020) review of research on intergroup contact and social change, and O'Donnell et al.'s (2021) review of technological and analytic advances in contact research. Having outlined the key arguments of each paper, we then offer some theoretical and method-ological reflections, also discussing potential gaps, connections , opportunities, and future directions along the way. We end by reflecting on a common theme that permeates our commentary: the need to contextualize adequately the dynamics of intergroup contact across a range of everyday settings. Here we argue that to fully understand how to promote beneficial forms of intergroup contact , we need to consider more carefully how contact is experienced, enacted, and evaluated "on the ground" by participants themselves. This requires work of both theoretical and methodological innovation.

The principle-implementation gap in attitudes towards racial inequality (and how to close it)

by John Dixon and Kevin Durrheim

Advances in Political Psychology

Research on attitudes towards racial equality has identified an apparent paradox, sometimes desc... more Research on attitudes towards racial equality has identified an apparent paradox, sometimes described as the ‘Principle-Implementation gap’. White Americans accept equality as an ideal yet reject interventions designed to achieve that ideal. In this paper, we provide a critical review of empirical and theoretical work in the field and outline some directions for future research. Drawing on a programme of research conducted in post-apartheid South Africa, we argue for the value of: (1) widening the field beyond its traditional focus on white policy attitudes in the United States; (2) developing relational models that encompass more fully the perspectives of historically disadvantaged as well as historically advantaged communities; (3) making greater use of methods that elucidate how ordinary people themselves construct the meaning of the Principle-Implementation gap and how this informs, and indeed justifies and normalises, associated patterns of behaviour; and (4) prioritizing the difficult question of how to promote social change in societies where most citizens embrace equality as a noble end but often reject the means through which it might be accomplished. With regards to the latter – and given the ascendancy of prejudice-based explanations of the Principle-Implementation gap - the paper evaluates in particular some strengths and limitations of a prejudice-reduction model of social change.

'Thinking ill of others without sufficient warrant'? Transcending the accuracy-inaccuracy dualism in prejudice and stereotyping research

British Journal of Social Psychology, 2017

Research on prejudice seeks to understand and transform inaccurate beliefs about others. Indeed, ... more Research on prejudice seeks to understand and transform inaccurate beliefs about others. Indeed, historically such research has offered a cautionary tale of the biased nature of human cognition. Recently, however, this view has been challenged by work defending the essential rationality of intergroup perception, a theme captured controversially in Jussim and colleagues’ (2009) research on the ‘unbearable accuracy of stereotyping’. The present paper argues that in its own terms the ‘rationalist turn’ in socio-cognitive research on stereotyping presents an important challenge to the prejudice tradition, raising troubling questions about its conceptual and empirical foundations. However, it also argues for the necessity of transcending those terms. By focusing on the correspondence between individual beliefs and the supposedly ‘objective’ characteristics of others, we neglect the historical and discursive practices through which the social realities that we ‘perceive’ are actively constructed and institutionalized. We mask their social origins, contested and perspectival nature, relativity, and relationship to wider structures of power. By implication, moving beyond the Allportian perspective that has dominated both the prejudice tradition and the emerging stereotype accuracy paradigm, we may now need to prioritize other kinds of questions. Reversing Allport’s famous definition of prejudice, it may now be time to ask: How, and with what consequences, does ‘thinking ill of others’ become sufficiently warranted? How does such thinking become part of institutionalized relations of power and an accepted way of perceiving, evaluating and treating others? What should social psychologists be doing to challenge this state of affairs?

A Liar and a Copycat: Nonverbal Coordination Increases with Lie Difficulty

by John Dixon and Ruth Wong

Royal Society Open Science, 2020

Studies of the nonverbal correlates of deception tend to examine liars’ behaviours as independent... more Studies of the nonverbal correlates of deception tend to examine liars’ behaviours as independent from the behaviour of the interviewer, ignoring joint action. To address this gap, Experiment 1 examined the effect of telling a truth and easy, difficult and very difficult lies on nonverbal coordination. Nonverbal coordination was measured automatically by applying a Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) algorithm to motion-capture data. In Experiment 2, interviewees also received instructions that influenced the attention they paid to either the nonverbal or verbal behaviour of the interviewer. Results from both Experiments found that interviewer-interviewee nonverbal coordination increased with lie difficulty. This increase was not influenced by the degree to which interviewees paid attention to their nonverbal behaviour, nor by the degree of interviewer’s suspicion. Our findings are consistent with the broader proposition that people rely on automated processes such as mimicry when under cognitive load.

Networks of (Dis)connection: Mobility practices, tertiary streets and sectarian divisions in north Belfast

Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 2019

Longstanding tensions between Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland have led to... more Longstanding tensions between Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland have led to high levels of segregation. This paper explores the spaces within which residents of north Belfast move within everyday life and the extent to which these are influenced by segregation. We focus in particular on the role that interconnecting 'tertiary streets' have on patterns of mobility. We adapt Grannis' (1998) concept to define T-communities from sets of interconnecting tertiary streets within north Belfast. These are combined with over 6000 GPS tracks collected from local residents in order to assess the amount of time spent within different spaces. Spaces are divided into areas of residents own community affiliation (ingroup), areas not clearly associated with either community (mixed), or areas of opposing community affiliation (outgroup). We further differentiate space as being either within a T-community or along a section of main road. Our work extends research on T-communities by expanding their role beyond exploring residential preference, to explore instead, networks of (dis)connection through which social divisions are expressed via everyday mobility practices. We conclude that residents are significantly less likely to move within mixed and outgroup areas and that this was especially true within T-communities. It is also evident that residents were more likely to travel along outgroup sections of a main road if they were in a vehicle and that women showed no greater likelihood than men to move within outgroup space. Evidence from GPS tracks also provides insights into some areas where mixing appears to occur.

‘When the walls come tumbling down’: The role of intergroup proximity, threat and contact in shaping attitudes towards the removal of Northern Ireland’s peace walls

British Journal of Social Psychology, 2020

Institutional structures of segregation typically entrench social inequality and sustain wider p... more Institutional structures of segregation typically entrench social inequality and sustain wider patterns of intergroup conflict and discrimination. However, initiatives to dismantle such structures may provoke resistance. Executive proposals to dismantle Northern Ireland’s peace walls by 2023 provide a compelling case study of the nature of such resistance and may thus provide important clues about how it might be overcome. Drawing on a field survey conducted in north Belfast (n = 488), this research explored the role of physical proximity, realistic and symbolic threat, and past experiences of positive and negative cross-community contact on Catholic and Protestant residents’ support for removing the walls. Structural equation modelling suggested that both forms of contact and proximity were significantly related to such support and that these relationships were partially mediated by realistic threat. It also suggested that positive contact moderated the effects of proximity. That is, for residents who had more frequent positive interactions with members of the other community, proximity to a peace wall had a weaker relationship with resistance to their removal than residents who had less frequent contact.

It's not just 'us' versus 'them': Moving beyond binary perspectives on intergroup processes

by John Dixon, Guy Elcheroth, Philippa Kerr, Mai Albzour, and Kevin Durrheim

European Review of Social Psychology, 2020

Most of what we know about the social psychology of intergroup relations has emerged from studies... more Most of what we know about the social psychology of intergroup relations has emerged from studies of how one group of people (e.g., whites) think and feel about another (e.g., blacks). By reducing the social world to binary categories, this approach has provided a simple, effective and efficient methodological framework. However, it has also obscured some important features of social relations in historically divided and unequal societies. This paper highlights the importance of investigating intergroup relationships involving more than two groups and of exploring not only their psychological but also their political significance. We argue that this shift in focus may illuminate patterns of domination and subordination, collusion and betrayal, solidarity and resistance that have been generally neglected in our field. Developing this argument, we discuss the conditions under which members of historically disadvantaged groups either dissolve into internecine competition or unite to challenge the status quo, highlighting the role of complex forms of social comparison, social identification, intergroup contact, and third-party support for collective action. To conclude, we suggest that binary conceptualizations of intergroup relations should be treated as the product of specific sets of historical and socio-political practices rather than a natural starting point for psychological research and outline some future directions for research.

Xenophobic Violence and 'Struggle' Discourse in South Africa

Journal of Asian and African Studies, 2019

This paper argues that xenophobia in South Africa is entangled in discourses of liberation strugg... more This paper argues that xenophobia in South Africa is entangled in discourses of liberation struggle, which are often used to justify anti-foreigner violence. We first examine some existing academic explanations for xenophobia, namely internalised racism, poverty/inequality, nationalism, and township and informal settlement politics. To avoid deterministically explaining xenophobia as 'caused' by any of these factors, however, we introduce a concept from social psychology, the concept of 'working models of contact'. These are common frames of reference in which contact between groups is understood in terms of shared meanings and values. Xenophobic violence is not caused but instantiated in ways that are explained and justified according to particular understandings of the meaning of the 'citizen-foreigner' relationship. We then review three case studies of xenophobic violence whose perpetrators constructed a model of contact in which African 'foreigners' were undermining the struggles of South Africans in various socioeconomic contexts. We also examine three cases where xenophobic violence was actively discouraged by invoking an inclusive rather than divisive form of struggle discourse. Thus the nature of the struggle itself becomes contested. We conclude by considering some dilemmatic implications that our analysis provokes.

Beyond the two-group paradigm in studies of intergroup conflict and inequality: Third parties and intergroup alliances in xenophobic violence in South Africa

British Journal of Social Psychology, 2017

Social psychologists typically conceptualize intergroup processes in terms of unequal pairs of s... more Social psychologists typically conceptualize intergroup processes in terms of unequal
pairs of social categories, such as an advantaged majority (e.g., ‘Whites’) and a
disadvantaged minority (e.g., ‘Blacks’). We argue that this two-group paradigm may
obscure the workings of intergroup power by overlooking: (1) the unique dynamics of
intergroup relations involving three or more groups, and (2) the way some two-group
relationships function as strategic alliances that derive meaning from their location within a wider relational context. We develop this argument through a field study conducted in a grape-farming town in South Africa in 2009, focusing on an episode of xenophobic violence in which a Zimbabwean farm worker community was forcibly evicted from their homes by their South African neighbours. Discursive analysis of interview accounts of the nature and origins of this violence shows how an ostensibly binary ‘xenophobic’ conflict between foreign and South African farm labourers was partially constituted through both groups’ relationship with a third party who were neither victims nor perpetrators of the actual violence, namely White farmers. We highlight some potential political consequences of defaulting to a two-group paradigm in intergroup conflict studies.

Networks of (Dis)connection: Mobility Practices, Tertiary Streets, and Sectarian Divisions in North Belfast

Annals of the American Association of Geographers. , 2019

Long-standing tensions between Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland have led t... more Long-standing tensions between Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland have led to high levels of segregation. This article explores the spaces within which residents of north Belfast move within everyday life and the extent to which these are influenced by segregation. We focus in particular on the role that interconnecting tertiary streets have on patterns of mobility. We adapt Grannis’s (1998) concept to define T-communities from sets of interconnecting tertiary streets within north Belfast. These are combined with more than 6,000 Global Positioning System (GPS) tracks collected from local residents to assess the amount of time spent within different spaces. Spaces are divided into areas of residents’ own community affiliations (in-group), areas not clearly associated with either community (mixed), or areas of opposing community affiliation (out-group). We further differentiate space as being either within a T-community or along a section of main road. Our work extends research on T-communities by expanding their role beyond exploring residential preference, to explore, instead, networks of (dis)connection through which social divisions are expressed via everyday mobility practices. We conclude that residents are significantly less likely to move within mixed and out-group areas and that this is especially true within T-communities. It is also evident that residents are more likely to travel along out-group sections of a main road if they are in a vehicle and that women show no greater likelihood than men to move within out-group space. Evidence from GPS tracks also provides insights into some areas where mixing appears to occur.

Fostering social change among advantaged and disadvantaged group members: Integrating intergroup contact and social identity perspectives on collective action Article

Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 2019

Recent research on intergroup contact has shown how interactions with outgroup members may both d... more Recent research on intergroup contact has shown how interactions with outgroup members may both decrease and increase motivations to achieve social equality. Similarly, social identity theory has identified the conditions that lead individuals to challenge unequal social systems. Integrating these two major theories, the current study examined the processes underlying the relationship between intergroup contact and participants' willingness to engage in collective action to challenge social inequality. Specifically, we tested sociostructural variables (status legitimacy and stability, and permeability of group boundaries) as potential mediators of contact in a sample of both advantaged (Italian high school students, N = 392) and disadvantaged (immigrant high school students, N = 165) group members. We found that contact was positively associated with motivation for change, an effect mediated by decreased perceived legitimacy of status differences. Moreover, for the advantaged group, membership salience moderated the effects of quality (but not quantity) of contact. Indirect effects were instead not moderated by content of contact (an index considering the extent to which contact was characterized by a focus on differences vs. commonalities between groups). Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed.

Accomplishing attitudes

Discursive Psychology: Classic and Contemporary Issues. , 2016

Concluding thoughts: The past, present and future of research on the contact hypothesis

Intergroup contact theory: Recent developments and future directions, 2017

Prejudice (unless deeply rooted in the character structure of the individual) may be reduced by e... more Prejudice (unless deeply rooted in the character structure of the individual) may be reduced by equal status contact between majority and minority groups in the pursuit of common goals. The effect is greatly enhanced if this contact is sanctioned by institutional supports (i.e. by law, custom or local atmosphere), and provided it is of a sort that leads to the perception of common interests and common humanity of the two groups.

Beyond prejudice as antipathy: Understanding kinder, gentler forms of discrimination.

Routledge handbook of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination., 2021

From prejudice reduction to collective action: Two psychological models of social change (and how to reconcile them).

by John Dixon, Kevin Durrheim, and Huseyin Cakal

In order to understand when and why social change occurs, we must first understand the psychologi... more In order to understand when and why social change occurs, we must first understand the psychological processes that lead people to act in ways that sustain or challenge the status quo. This chapter discusses two psychological models of social change: a prejudice reduction model, focused on getting people to like one another more, and a collective action model, focused on political mobilization. Recent research on these models has highlighted some fundamental – and some would say irreconcilable - points of tension between them. Our chapter not only explores this emerging debate, but also proposes a resolution that seeks to transcend a simple ‘prejudice reduction versus collective action’ formulation. We argue that the efficacy of any psychological model of change is contextually contingent. This means that generic frameworks for understanding change must be complemented by historical and sociological analysis of local patterns of discrimination. In certain contexts, prejudice reduction may improve intergroup relations, notably by encouraging the historically advantaged to treat others better. In other contexts, the project of getting us to like one another more may distract from, or even impede, the more important project of mobilizing the disadvantaged to challenge the status quo.

Place-identity and urban policy: Sharing leisure spaces in the ‘post-conflict’ city

by John Dixon and Dominic Bryan

Place attachment: Advances in theory, method and applications, 2019

This collection explores how people use language to construct the relation between their self and... more This collection explores how people use language to construct the relation between their self and the location they occupy, or to which they wish to belong. Narrative practice therefore becomes the context and practice through which these participants construct their local identities and their places, both understood as dynamic and in continuous evolution. While the theme of place-identity has been explored especially in a context of migration, the novelty of the volume lies in its investigation of the multiple contexts in which identity is examined; prominence is nonetheless assigned to processes of displacement and uprooting often combined with increased social inequality that make the investigation of ways in which place is discursively constructed and of the roles it plays in processes of self-presentation and identity creation so crucial. The volume adopts a novel interdisciplinary approach making this key reading for researchers in sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, discursive psychology, geography, and linguistic anthropology.

Places, identities and geopolitical change: exploring the strengths and limits of identity process theory

by John Dixon, Kevin Durrheim, and Andrés Di Masso

Intergroup contact and the struggle for social justice

by John Dixon and Kevin Durrheim

Racial Encounter: The Social Psychology of Contact and Desegregation

by John Dixon and Kevin Durrheim

The political and legislative changes that took place in South Africa during the 1990s, with the ... more The political and legislative changes that took place in South Africa during the 1990s, with the dissolution of apartheid, created a unique set of social conditions. As official policies of segregation were abolished, people of both black and white racial groups began to experience new forms of social contact and intimacy.

Language attitudes in Southern Africa.

In H. Giles and B. Watson (Eds), Social Meanings of Speech Style: An International Perspective. P... more

Desegregation, in International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2nd Edition

by John Dixon and Kevin Durrheim

Place attachment as discursive practice.

by Andrés Di Masso and John Dixon

Place attachments are emotional bonds that form between people and their physical surroundings. T... more Place attachments are emotional bonds that form between people and their physical surroundings. These connections are a powerful aspect of human life that inform our sense of identity, create meaning in our lives, facilitate community and influence action. Place attachments affect issues as diverse as rootedness and belonging, placemaking and displacement, mobility and migration, intergroup conflict, civic engagement, social housing and urban redevelopment, natural resource management and global climate change.

Place Identitypaperfinal JEP

Research on segregation has expanded beyond its traditional focus on the residential demography o... more Research on segregation has expanded beyond its traditional focus on the residential demography of cities to explore how, why and with what consequences segregation manifests within activity spaces beyond the home. As part of this shift, researchers have become increasingly interested in the time geography of residents’ everyday mobility practices. Building on this work, the present paper explores the role of place identity dynamics in shaping how Catholic and Protestant residents navigate everyday spaces over time in the historically divided city of Belfast. To do so, we employ a novel combination of walking interviews (n=33), GPS tracking, GIS visualizations, and photo-elicitation. By recovering residents’ lived experiences of moving through the sensuous, material, and symbolic landscapes of the city, we show how the interrelated dynamics of place belonging and alienation influence their mobility choices in ways that maintain sectarian divisions. We also show how the concept of place identity enriches the materialist notion of mobility ‘constraints’ that has characterized most time geographic work on segregation. In conclusion, we suggest that interventions to promote desegregation must transform not only relations between different communities, but also relations between community members and the activity spaces in which their everyday lives are embedded.