Intergroup contact that emphasizes cross-group commonalities has been a guiding framework for research and interventions designed to promote more tolerant and just societies. In the current work we propose that, although commonality-based contact can improve out-group attitudes, it may also reduce awareness of current intergroup disparities and produce overly optimistic expectations about egalitarian social change among disadvantaged groups. Such perceptions may have long-term implications for collective mobilization, and changes towards equality. Participants in Experiment 1 were assigned to either high or low power experimental groups, and were brought together to discuss either commonalities between the groups or intergroup differences. Beyond improving out-group attitudes, commonality-focused contact also reduced awareness of intergroup inequalities and produced heightened expectation for equality among members of disadvantaged groups. This expectation, however, proved unrealistic when judged against the behavior of members of the advantaged groups. Mediation analysis revealed that improved out-group attitudes and decreased attention to intergroup inequality explained the unrealistic optimism among the disadvantaged groups. Participants in Study 2 were Jews and Arabs in Israel who reported the degree of positive intergroup contact they have experienced. Positive contact predicted positive out-group attitudes and trust. Nevertheless, positive contact also led disadvantaged group members to view the status quo as more legitimate, a perception that, in turn, predicted decreased motivation for social change. Taken together, this research demonstrates that despite its positive effects on out-group orientations, positive intergroup contact may reduce the chances that disadvantaged group members would recognize and act to change their subordinate position.