Creating Ambassadors of Peace in Ethiopia (CAPE)

In recent years, Ethiopia has experienced a significant increase in conflicts, leading to the death and displacement of millions of people, destruction of essential infrastructure worth billions of dollars, and exacerbation of human rights violations. This can be attributed to ethnic prejudice, stemming largely from historical tensions between different ethnic groups. Misinformation about ethnic groups on social media; the current ethnic-based federal structure; and the manipulation of historical grievances by those seeking political gain have exacerbated existing prejudicial attitudes and behaviors. This study examines the host family program (HFP) at the University of Gondar leveraging an experimental design to evaluate the impact of intergroup contact facilitated by the program on prejudice towards an outgroup. HFP enables meaningful contact by providing an opportunity for students and their host families to exchange cultural practices, beliefs, and ideas and establish deep relationships that can engender the formation of positive attitudes of both participating students and their host families. The study will employ both self-reported survey measures and behavioral games (e.g., the dictator game, trust game, and public goods game) to assess whether the HFP leads to actual behavioral changes, such as increased altruism, trust, and cooperation, towards the outgroup.