Abstract
Research indicates that lower-caste Dalits and Adivasis make up the overwhelming majority of Indians living in exploitative work conditions termed modern or contemporary slavery. This thesis set out to evaluate if an awareness intervention could increase Indians’ opposition toward modern slavery and collective action against it. Moreover, it tested whether the effect of such an intervention would be moderated by caste prejudice, status and identification. In a pre-registered experiment, 323 Indian participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk read either a short text explaining the extent of modern slavery or, in the control condition, a text on penguins in the Antarctic region. It was found that the intervention led to a significant increase in the acknowledgement of modern slavery within India. However, contrary to hypotheses, it did not lead to a change in opposition to modern slavery, support for increased government action, or support for status quo. Also contrary to predictions, no moderation was observed. Nonetheless, exploratory analyses showed that caste prejudice was a significant predictor of weaker opposition to modern slavery and greater support for the status quo. Moreover, social status predicted greater support both for increased government action and status quo, while identification with one’s social status group predicted greater support for the status quo. The findings of the present research are discussed in light of future research and societal implications.