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Cross-ethnic friendships: Are they really rare? Evidence from secondary schools around London
... However, while contact opportunities are an important prerequisite for students' interethnic friendships (Juvonen, 2017;Leman and Cameron, 2017;Graham, 2018), the mere presence of other ethnic groups does not automatically promote positive interethnic interactions (Moody, 2001;. Research has well-documented ethnic homophily, whereby students prefer to affiliate with classmates of the same ethnicity or nationality (Strohmeier, 2012;Bagci et al., 2014;Smith et al., 2014). Strong ethnic boundaries carry a high potential for conflict and isolation, especially for students from ethnic minority groups, as recent international studies indicate (Oxman-Martinez et al., 2012;OECD, 2019). ...
... Previous findings show strong same-ethnicity biases in friendship selection (e.g., McPherson et al., 2001;Moody, 2001;Titzmann and Silbereisen, 2009;Vermeij et al., 2009;Graham et al., 2014;Smith et al., 2014), particularly among majority group students (e.g., Stark, 2015). This is at least partly due to the fact that ethnic homophily promotes students' shared social identities (Wilson and Rodkin, 2011;Bagci et al., 2014). According to social identity theory, individuals define themselves through their membership with different social groups, which they internalize into their selfconcept. ...
... In order to maintain their higher status, these students are more likely to affiliate with in-group members (Scheepers et al., 2002;Vervoort et al., 2011). Accordingly, ethnic majority group students show higher same-ethnic friendship preferences with increasing levels of diversity (Kawabata and Crick, 2008;Wilson and Rodkin, 2011;Bagci et al., 2014;Jugert et al., 2017). Moreover, increasing proportions of minority group students in classrooms are associated with majority students' aggressive behavior and discrimination against ethnic minority group students (Verkuyten and Thijs, 2002;Vervoort et al., 2011;Durkin et al., 2012;Barth et al., 2013). ...
Drawing on the role of teachers for peer ecologies, we investigated whether students favored ethnically homogenous over ethnically diverse relationships, depending on classroom diversity and perceived teacher care. We specifically studied students' intra-and interethnic relationships in classrooms with different ethnic compositions, accounting for homogeneous subgroups forming on the basis of ethnicity and gender diversity (i.e., ethnic-demographic faultlines). Based on multilevel social network analyses of dyadic networks between 1299 early adolescents in 70 German fourth grade classrooms, the results indicated strong ethnic homophily, particularly driven by German students who favored ethnically homogenous dyads over mixed dyads. As anticipated, the results showed that there was more in-group bias if perceived teacher care was low rather than high. Moreover, stronger faultlines were associated with stronger in-group bias; however, this relation was moderated by teacher care: If students perceived high teacher care, they showed a higher preference for mixed-ethnic dyads, even in classrooms with strong faultlines. These findings highlight the central role of teachers as agents of positive diversity management and the need to consider contextual classroom factors other than ethnic diversity when investigating intergroup relations in schools.
... The time spent in education during adolescence implies that schools and classrooms hold the potential to be important socializing contexts. Indeed, there is a growing literature focusing on how classroom composition affects intergroup relations both in terms of cross-ethnic friendships (Bagci et al., 2014;Bellmore et al., 2007) and prejudice (Dejaeghere et al., 2012;Thijs & Verkuyten, 2014). These studies, however, are rarely longitudinal, which means that there is limited knowledge about how the effects of classroom composition play out over time, including if any effects persist after students leave the classrooms. ...
... In support of the principle of propinquity (Hallinan & Williams, 1989), studies have repeatedly shown that heterogeneity at classroom and school levels is positively related to the number of cross-ethnic friendships (Bagci et al., 2014;Bellmore et al., 2007;Joyner & Kao, 2000;Stearns, 2004), and that diversity increases the likelihood of attaining cross-ethnic friends over time (Titzmann et al., 2015). However, ethnic and racial homophily is also important (McPherson et al., 2001), and studies have found that both types of processes are at play in ethnically diverse schools. ...
... Examining the relationship between classroom diversity and cross-ethnic friendships during the time when students are in the same classroom, we find that adolescents in more diverse classrooms are significantly more prone to engage in cross-ethnic friendships. This is in line with the principle of propinquity, which suggests that more friendship opportunities predict more friendships, and with previous studies showing that classroom diversity facilitates friendships (Bagci et al., 2014;Bellmore et al., 2007;Joyner & Kao, 2000;Stearns, 2004;Titzmann et al., 2015). ...
This study examined short- and long-term effects of ethnic classroom diversity for intergroup relations in adolescence. Using a five-year panel of Swedish majority youth ( M ageT1 = 13.40, M ageT5 = 17.30), we found only limited direct effects of classroom diversity on anti-immigrant attitudes. However, classroom diversity increased the likelihood of cross-ethnic friendships, which in turn was associated with lower levels of anti-immigrant attitudes. Moreover, we found that the effect of classroom diversity on friendships remained also after adolescents transitioned to new schools. The findings highlight the importance of longitudinal analyses and contribute to a deeper understanding of how intergroup relations develop during adolescence. It brings new insights related to the longevity of classroom effects and to cross-ethnic friendships’ ability to mediate the diversity–attitudes relationship.
... Commonly, such studies have adopted a top-down approach to examine effects of an overall index of the ethnic school diversity, a school-level concept denoting the "ethnic mix" of the student population (Braster and Dronkers 2013). Most research shows that students are more likely to have friendships with students from ethnic outgroups in more diverse schools (Bagci et al. 2014;Goldsmith 2004;Moody 2001;Van Houtte and Stevens 2009). Therefore, scholars mostly advise that ethnic segregation is to be avoided, and therefore advocate to promote ethnic diversity in all schools by means of active school composition policies (Vervoort, Scholte, and Scheepers 2011). ...
... Consequently, there is little empirical research on how ethnic diversity and congruence impact overall friendships independently, and on how they relate to each other. Previous studies already indicate that ethnic diversity and ethnic congruence should be seen as two different concepts that may vary independently (Bagci et al. 2014;Georgiades, Boyle, and Fife 2013;Koopmans and Schaeffer 2015). This idea is supported by empirical studies. ...
... This idea is supported by empirical studies. For instance, Bagci et al. (2014) control for the percentage of same-ethnic peers in assessing the effects of diversity, noting that the ethnic diversity effect is established over and above the effect of ethnic congruence. Furthermore, Benner and Crosnoe (2011) found that students had higher academic scores in ethnically more diverse schools, especially so when confronted with a higher ethnic congruence in those schools. ...
This study assesses whether ethnic congruence associates with students’ share of cross-group friendships and number of overall friendships. We investigate differences between natives, Western-European immigrants, and non-Western European immigrants. Multilevel analyses on 11,759 students across 83 Flemish secondary schools demonstrated that, for natives and Western-European immigrants, higher congruence linearly related to lower shares of cross-group friendships. For non-Western European immigrants we observed a U-curved relationship. Moreover, for the latter, higher congruence associated with more friendships overall. As such, non-Western European immigrants are better integrated in the peer group when at least a critical share of co-ethnics is present at school.
... A key strength of this developmental research is the breadth of positive outcomes of intergroup contact that have been uncovered. Intergroup contact among children has been linked with more positive intergroup attitudes Turner, Tam, Hewstone, Kenworthy, & Cairns, 2013), more prosocial behavioral intentions (Abbott & Cameron, 2014) and inclusive, diverse friendships (Bagci, Kumashiro, Smith, Blumberg, & Rutland, 2014;Feddes, Noack, & Rutland, 2009;Jugert, Noack, & Rutland, 2011). Žeželj, Jakšic and Jošic (2015), for example, examined the impact of supervised contact between Serbian and Roma children in schools. ...
... As with intergroup contact in general, research on cross-group friendships among children has also identified a range of benefits that extend beyond intergroup relations, such as increased social competence (e.g. Lease & Blake, 2005) and increased self-esteem, well-being and resilience (Bagci et al., 2014;Fletcher, Rollins, & Nickerson, 2004). Children with cross-group friends also show greater leadership potential and appear to be more popular (Kawabata & Crick, 2008;Lease & Blake, 2005). ...
... On the other hand, recent studies paint a more optimistic picture. Children attending more diverse schools report holding more inclusive, diverse friendships (Bagci et al., 2014;Feddes et al., 2009;Jugert et al., 2011;Schachner, Brenick, Noack, van de Vijver, & Heizmann, 2015). For instance, in the context of Northern Ireland, Turner, Tam, et al. (2013) found that children in more diverse schools (i.e. ...
Intergroup contact theory has been one of the most influential theories in social psychology since it was first formulated by Gordon Allport in 1954. This volume highlights, via a critical lens, the most notable recent developments in the field, demonstrating its vitality and its capacity for reinvention and integration with a variety of seemingly distinct research areas. In the last two decades, the research focus has been on the variables that explain why contact improves intergroup attitudes and when the contact–prejudice relation ship is stronger. Current research highlights that contact is not a panacea for prejudice, but it can represent a useful tool that can contribute to the improvement of intergroup relations. The book includes coverage of a number of previously under-researched fields, which extend the full potential of contact theory within the personality, acculturation and developmental domains. The chapters also examine the methodological advances in the field and the applied implications. The book offers a rich picture of the state of the field and future directions for research that will be invaluable to students and scholars working in social psychology and related disciplines. It aims to provide fertile ground for the development of new, exciting and dynamic research ideas in the field of intergroup relations. Loris Vezzali is Associate Professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy, where he teaches Social and Group Psychology. His main research interests concern intergroup relations and, in particular, strategies for the reduction of explicit and implicit prejudice. Sofia Stathi is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich, UK, where she teaches Social and Cultural Psychology and Social Cognition. Her research focuses mainly on intergroup relations, categorization processes and multiculturalism.
... Children shift their ethnic selfidentifications in myriad ways, to create a sense of belonging to groups they consider important, and to broader society (Kustatscher, 2017a). Concerning the relationship between ethnicity and peer or friendship group formation, ample attention has been paid to the ethnic prejudice of pupils (e.g., Quintana, 1998;Van Houtte et al., 2019;Vervaet et al., 2018), whether or not children prefer intra-ethnic friendships (e.g., Baerveldt et al., 2007;Bagci et al., 2014;Fortuin et al., 2014;Schachner et al., 2015), and how the ethnic composition of schools is related to peer victimization and bullying (e.g., Agirdag, Demanet, et al., 2011;Myers and Bhopal, 2017;Stark et al., 2015;Thijs and Verkuyten, 2014;Tolsma et al., 2013). By and large, although the findings point in different general directions, these studies suggest that schools serve as important settings where children have the chance to interact across ethnic and social lines. ...
... By and large, although the findings point in different general directions, these studies suggest that schools serve as important settings where children have the chance to interact across ethnic and social lines. While some studies provide evidence of ethnic mixing among pupils in diverse schools (Bagci et al., 2014), others reveal that children aim to hang out with those of the same ethnic background (Fortuin et al., 2014). Research also points to the impact of children's transition to secondary education, and suggests that while children build friendships across ethnic lines in primary school, these friendships are often disrupted once enrolled in secondary (Bruegel, 2006;George, 2007;Hollingworth and Mansaray, 2012) In this dissertation, I particularly engage with (mostly sociological-anthropological) studies on the role of ethnicity and social class in children's peer and friendship group relationships, from the perspective of childhood studies (see Pache Huber and Spyrou, 2012), which, although not explicitly, adopt a boundary approach by examining how children themselves demarcate social groups. ...
Antwerp children grow up in a society characterized by unprecedented diversity. This diversity is strongly reflected in primary schools, where about three-quarters of the pupils have a migration background. At the same time, the city has a large ethnic gap in its poverty rates and life chances are unequally distributed along ethnic lines as well. Yet, while there is much research on the dynamics and impact of these inequalities, little is known about children’s perceptions and how they navigate such inequalities.
Building on insights from cultural sociology and the ‘New Sociology of Childhood’, this dissertation aims to add to the literature on symbolic boundary making by examining how children negotiate ethnic and social class boundaries in their super-diverse environment. Drawing on three rounds of in-depth interviews conducted over a two-school year period with children aged 11-14, and the parents and teachers of some of them, I discuss how children express a great deal of agency as they negotiate the unequal environment in which they find themselves. They do not passively draw on existing public repertoires to make sense of this environment, but they actively choose, combine and reconstruct those symbolic boundaries, repertoires and identity categories that support both their own perceptions and their self-concept.
... Conversely, negative contact could enhance these intentions. In line with previous research, we hypothesized that perceived discrimination (Dixon et al., 2010;Tropp et al., 2012), identification with the host society (Leach et al., 2008), and life satisfaction (Bagci et al., 2014;Mendoza-Denton & Page-Gould, 2008) could mediate these associations. Specifically, we proposed that more positive contact with the Turkish host society would be associated with higher life satisfaction and identification with the host society, and lower perceived discrimination. ...
... Bagci, Kumashiro, Smith, Blumberg, & Rutland, 2014;Mendoza-Denton & Page-Gould, 2008). For example, disabled people's friendships with nondisabled people are linked to greater psychological well-being(Bagci, Turnuklu, & Bekmezci, 2018). ...
Most research on refugee integration focuses on attitudes toward refugees among the members of the host society. Consequently, little is known on refugees' intentions to return home or migrate to another country. The present research investigates whether positive and negative contact with Turks are related to Syrian refugees' migration decisions via perceived discrimination, identification with the host society, and life satisfaction. Using a sample of Syrian adults (N = 285), we found that positive contact with Turks was associated with reduced return intentions via perceived discrimination and identification with the host society and with reduced intentions to migrate from Turkey to the Western countries via life satisfaction. Negative contact was only associated with increased return intentions via perceived discrimination. This study underscores the role of intergroup contact to better understand migration decisions of refugees and potential underlying mechanisms to explain this association. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.
... Conversely, negative contact could enhance these intentions. In line with previous research, we hypothesized that perceived discrimination (Dixon et al., 2010;Tropp et al., 2012), identification with the host society (Leach et al., 2008), and life satisfaction (Bagci et al., 2014;Mendoza-Denton & Page-Gould, 2008) could mediate these associations. Specifically, we proposed that more positive contact with the Turkish host society would be associated with higher life satisfaction and identification with the host society, and lower perceived discrimination. ...
... Bagci, Kumashiro, Smith, Blumberg, & Rutland, 2014;Mendoza-Denton & Page-Gould, 2008). For example, disabled people's friendships with nondisabled people are linked to greater psychological well-being(Bagci, Turnuklu, & Bekmezci, 2018). ...
Most research on refugee integration focuses on attitudes toward refugees among the members of the host society. Consequently, little is known on refugees' intentions to return home or migrate to another country. The present research investigates whether positive and negative contact with Turks are related to Syrian refugees' migration decisions via perceived discrimination, identification with the host society, and life satisfaction. Using a sample of Syrian adults (N = 285), we found that positive contact with Turks was associated with reduced return intentions via perceived discrimination and identification with the host society and with reduced intentions to migrate from Turkey to the Western countries via life satisfaction. Negative contact was only associated with increased return intentions via perceived discrimination. This study underscores the role of intergroup contact to better understand migration decisions of refugees and potential underlying mechanisms to explain this association. Abstract Most research on refugee integration focuses on attitudes toward refugees among the
... Research examining these processes at an intergroup level have mainly investigated cross-group friendship and demonstrated some positive effects. For example, cross-group friendships have been found to be associated with improved psychological health and well-being of adults with physical disabilities (Bagci et al., 2018), protected psychological well-being of adolescents and children from the negative consequences of perceived ethnic discrimination (Bagci et al., 2014;Benner & Wang, 2017) and negative contact (Paolini et al., 2014), improved college students' institutional belongingness and satisfaction (Mendoza-Denton & Page-Gould, 2008), improved psychological well-being in both minority and majority students, via self-disclosure and self-affirmation (Bagci et al., 2017). There is also some evidence, however, that cross-group friendship can be negatively associated with health and well-being. ...
... For children and young people, it is vital to ensure that opportunities for intergroup contact exist. Greater diversity in preschool, school, and university settings has been shown to predict more positive intergroup attitudes and more inclusive friendship groups (Bagci et al., 2014;Davies et al., 2011;Denson & Bowman, 2013;Gaias et al., 2018;Turner et al., 2013), presumably because they afford children and young people greater opportunity to connect with outgroup members, bolstering the likelihood that they form more intimate relationships with these outgroup members. Along with opportunity, it may be particularly important to promote confidence in contact (Kauff et al., in press;Turner & Cameron, 2016). ...
Intergroup contact can be as casual as members of different groups walking past one another on the street or as intimate as developing cross-group friendships or romantic
relationships. To date, however, the majority of intergroup contact research has focused on examining the effects of contact through self-report measures of interactions and friendships. While this research has made a substantial contribution to scientific understanding, less is known about how different forms of contact (casual vs. intimate) influence each other and are associated with outcomes across the lifespan. The present article focuses on intimate contact; a close and meaningful relationship or interaction with either an ingroup or outgroup member. We critically review the nature and consequences (good and bad) of intimate contact for children, youth and adults and for both majority and minority group members, focusing primarily on intimate intergroup contact. We also consider how intimate contact might be best measured in future research. Implications for research design, policy, and practice are considered.
... Children spend a considerable proportion of their lives in the classroom, often working together under the conditions specified by Allport, for example completing tasks that require teamwork and cooperation, with the encouragement of teachers, in order to achieve common goals. Indeed, there is evidence that children who experience diversity at school hold more positive intergroup attitudes (Davies, (Abbott & Cameron, 2014), and have more inclusive friendships (Bagci, Kumashiro, Smith, Blumberg, & Rutland, 2014;Feddes, Noack, & Rutland, 2009;Jugert, Noack, & Rutland, 2011). These positive outcomes suggest that attending a diverse school increases the likelihood of meaningful contact. ...
... Moreover, regardless of school type, children with greater experience of diversity had more cross-group friendships, which were in turn associated with greater empathy and self-disclosure and a more positive attitude toward the other community. There is also evidence that children with cross-group friends are more socially competent (Eisenberg, Vaughan, & Hofer, 2009;Lease & Blake, 2005); have higher self-esteem, well-being, and resilience (Bagci, Kumashiro, Smith, Blumberg, & Rutland, 2014;Fletcher, Rollins, & Nickerson, 2004); and are better at taking the perspective of out-group members. Consequently, they were more aware of how it feels to be discriminated against and to think that race-based exclusion is wrong (e.g. ...
By showcasing international, European, and community-based projects, this volume explores how online technologies and collaborative and blended learning can be used to bolster social cohesion and increase students’ understanding of what it means to be a global citizen.
With the pace of technology rapidly increasing, Blended and Online Learning for Global Citizenship draws timely attention to the global lessons being learned from the impact of these technologies on peace building, community development, and acceptance of difference. In-depth case studies showcasing successful projects in Europe, Northern Ireland, and Israel explore blended learning and illustrate how schools and educators have embraced online technologies to foster national and international links both within and beyond communities. This has, in turn, equipped students with experiences that have informed their attitudes to cultural and political conflicts, as well as racial, ethnic, and social diversity.
Building on the authors’ previous work Online Learning and Community Cohesion (2013), this thought-provoking text will be of interest to researchers, academics, and postgraduate students in the fields of international and comparative education. Educators and school leaders concerned with how multiculturalism and technology play out in the classroom environment will also benefit from reading this text.
(publisher's description)
... Most previous work has pointed to the fact that racial or ethnic homophily is one of the most important factors in friendship formation [12,13], and one study suggests that segregation primarily takes place among students at the same grade level [14]. There are, however, other studies documenting that cross-ethnic friendships are also frequent [15]. ...
... When students are asked to list their friends, students of the same ethnicity are more likely to be on that list [30,51,52], and they also tend to be similar in cultural and socioeconomic characteristics [53]. Meanwhile, other data, collected in London, has suggested cross-ethnic friendship to be frequent and of high quality [15]. ...
We suggest a new method for detecting patterns of social clustering based on choice data. The method compares similar subjects within and between cohorts and thereby allows us to isolate the effect of peer influence from that of exogenous factors. Using this method on Norwegian register data, we address the question of whether students tend to cluster socially based on similar background. We find that common background correlates with making the same choices of curricular tracks, and that both exogenous preferences and peer influence matter. This applies to immigrant students from the same country, and, to some extent, to descendants of immigrants, but not to students from culturally similar countries. There are also small effects related to parents’ education and income.
... Ethnic homophily is a strong predictor of friendship formation, and youth typically form more sameethnic friendships than cross-ethnic friendships (Bellmore et al. 2007). Despite this propensity for same-ethnic friendships, research indicates that children in diverse environments also develop cross-ethnic friendships (Bagci et al. 2014a(Bagci et al. , 2014b) that may have important, unique implications for socioemotional adjustment (Kawabata and Crick 2008;Graham et al. 2014). ...
... In early adolescence, gender disparities in friendships and group attitudes begin to emerge. Research on cross-ethnic friendships indicates gender differences exist regarding friend network size, intimacy, and emphasis on trust (e.g., Bagci et al. 2014aBagci et al. , 2014b. Gender differences regarding in-group attitudes have also been identified. ...
As American school districts become increasingly diverse, understanding the processes that promote positive intergroup relations is a critical task. The role of cross-ethnic friendships is one important factor, given the significance of these reciprocated peer relationships for social development. The current study examines the short-term longitudinal impact of cross-ethnic friendships on peer group attitudes and emotional adjustment. 524 student participants (54.8% female; Mage = 15.06 years, SD = 0.75; 47% Latino, 53% Asian-American) were followed for one year with two spring data collections. Students completed a self-report inventory assessing depressive symptoms and a peer nomination inventory assessed friendship, liking, disliking, popularity, and unpopularity. Cross-ethnic friendships were predictive of positive attitudes toward peers from other ethnic/racial groups and were also linked to declines in depressive symptoms for boys. Moreover, these positive effects did not come at a social cost, as cross-ethnic friendships were not associated with rejection by same-ethnic peers. Cross-ethnic friendships provide a unique environment that contributes to positive intergroup attitudes and beneficial socioemotional development for some youth.
... According to Benner and Crosnoe (2011), this perspective emphasizes how exposure to different worldviews and life perspectives expand young peoples' curiosity and intellectual capacities. For example, Bagci et al. (2014) found that ethnic diversity of the classroom was positively associated with cross-ethnic friendship selection among year 7 students in 9 multi-ethnic schools in England, suggesting that cross-ethnic friendships relate to more positive intergroup relations and better social competences. Consistent with these findings, a meta-analysis of intergroup contact studies found that people residing or interacting in ethnically-diverse settings were less prejudiced and more likely to like other ethnic groups than people in ethnically homogenous settings (Pettigrew and Tropp 2006). ...
... This measure provides an index of the probability that two randomly selected schoolchildren from the same school class will belong to different ethnic groups. Previous studies have found that interacting in ethnically-diverse settings may lower prejudice, increase openness to individuals from other ethnic groups (Pettigrew and Tropp 2006), and/or facilitate cross-ethnic friendships (Damico and Sparks 1986;Bagci et al. 2014). Based on this evidence, we predicted that adolescents in more heterogeneous school classes would feel less lonely because these settings reduce the risk of adolescents feeling left out or unaccepted because of circumstances related to their ethnicity. ...
... According to Benner and Crosnoe (2011), this perspective emphasizes how exposure to different worldviews and life perspectives expand young peoples' curiosity and intellectual capacities. For example, Bagci et al. (2014) found that ethnic diversity of the classroom was positively associated with cross-ethnic friendship selection among year 7 students in 9 multi-ethnic schools in England, suggesting that cross-ethnic friendships relate to more positive intergroup relations and better social competences. Consistent with these findings, a meta-analysis of intergroup contact studies found that people residing or interacting in ethnically-diverse settings were less prejudiced and more likely to like other ethnic groups than people in ethnically homogenous settings (Pettigrew and Tropp 2006). ...
... This measure provides an index of the probability that two randomly selected schoolchildren from the same school class will belong to different ethnic groups. Previous studies have found that interacting in ethnically-diverse settings may lower prejudice, increase openness to individuals from other ethnic groups (Pettigrew and Tropp 2006), and/or facilitate cross-ethnic friendships (Damico and Sparks 1986;Bagci et al. 2014). Based on this evidence, we predicted that adolescents in more heterogeneous school classes would feel less lonely because these settings reduce the risk of adolescents feeling left out or unaccepted because of circumstances related to their ethnicity. ...
Loneliness is a public health concern that increases the risk for several health, behavioral and academic problems among adolescents. Some studies have suggested that adolescents with an ethnic minority background have a higher risk for loneliness than adolescents from the majority population. The increasing numbers of migrant youth around the world mean growing numbers of heterogeneous school environments in many countries. Even though adolescents spend a substantial amount of time at school, there is currently very little non-U.S. research that has examined the importance of the ethnic composition of school classes for loneliness in adolescence. The present research aimed to address this gap by exploring the association between loneliness and three dimensions of the ethnic composition in the school class: (1) membership of ethnic majority in the school class, (2) the size of own ethnic group in the school class, and (3) the ethnic diversity of the school class. We used data from the Danish 2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey: a nationally representative sample of 4383 (51.2 % girls) 11-15-year-olds. Multilevel logistic regression analyses revealed that adolescents who did not belong to the ethnic majority in the school class had increased odds for loneliness compared to adolescents that belonged to the ethnic majority. Furthermore, having more same-ethnic classmates lowered the odds for loneliness. We did not find any statistically significant association between the ethnic diversity of the school classes and loneliness. The study adds novel and important findings to how ethnicity in a school class context, as opposed to ethnicity per se, influences adolescents' loneliness.
... The participants were in the middle and late adolescent age range because they explored identity more visibly than early stages (Santrock, 1998). The participants were also from multiethnic schools given that the ethnic diversity in the school environment allowed for friendship between ethnicities (Bagci et al., 2014;Williams, 2010). Therefore, senior high school students were chosen in this study as participants. ...
This study aims to describe the formation process of the closeness in interethnic friendship among adolescents living in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. A qualitative study using grounded theory method is employed. Study participants comprised five adolescent girls, aged 16–17 years, with the following interethnic friendships: Javanese–Arabic–Tionghoa, Javanese–Arabic, and Javanese–Tionghoa. Data on the formation process of closeness in interethnic friendship were collected using semi-structured interview referring to the Closeness Interethnic Friendship Guideline for Adolescents. Data were analyzed using initial coding, focused coding, axial coding, and theoretical coding. Results reveal seven composites of closeness in interethnic friendship: disclosure, comfort, compatibility, reappraisal of the characters and other ethnic groups, support, similarity, and togetherness. Closeness led to the continuity of friendship, along with positive emotions, such as excited, comfortable, fun, happy, joyful, content, safe, and proud. This process occurred when the situation supported togetherness as well as, personal quality, experience, and appraisal toward the different ethnic groups, and the shared values understood by all the ethnic groups.
... Schools provide important spaces for children's interaction and inclusion, and their role as facilitators of social mixing has been studied extensively (Bagci et al. 2014;Hollingworth and Mansaray 2012;Joseph and Feldman 2009;Pagani, Robustelli, and Martinelli 2011;Verkuyten and Thijs 2013). It has been acknowledged that simply being in the same school does not automatically involve engaging with other children of different backgrounds, and that explicit teacher strategies are often needed to encourage mixing and facilitate inclusive school spaces (Grütter and Meyer 2014;Mendoza 2019;Hemming 2011). ...
This paper reports on the findings from a study based in England, within a new school that opened its doors to students in August 2015. The school, established under relatively recent UK legislation as a ‘Free School’, set out to be inclusive, aiming to achieve this through its architecture and design, admissions policy, mixed attainment class organisation and inclusive teaching practices. The research project tracked the school’s growth and examined the extent to which it developed as an inclusive school. One key strand of the research involved photovoice with young people. Photographs within the school, taken by the young people were used as the basis for interviews about their school and their space and to explore social relations and inclusion/exclusion at the school. Findings emphasise that children and young people’s lived experiences of different school spaces may not always coincide with the ideas of the adults who initially conceived them, and furthermore illustrate the importance of acknowledging children and young people’s diverse needs and preferences in order to construct the school as an inclusive space.
... From taxonomies of approach avoidance to four new intergroup types Situated choices to attend the hijab stall reflected robust individual differences along a volitional approach-avoidance dimension and an engagement-disengagement dimension. The rate of choosing contact in our sample was higher than often assumed within the literature (Figure 2; Bagci, Kumashiro, Smith, Blumberg, & Rutland, 2014), especially in light of our heated intergroup context (cf., Dixon et al., 2020); however, as we discuss below it likely reflects the multi-pronged, goal-directed framing we used and recruitment support from local authorities, including the researchers themselves. Our data extend existing catalogues of approach motivations (Dunne, 2013;Ron et al., 2017;St€ urmer & Benbow, 2017) and intergroup anxiety/threat (Greenland, Xenias, & Maio, 2012;Paolini, Wright, et al., 2016;Paolini, Harris, et al., 2016;Stephan, 2014), revealing an array of approach/avoid motivations (Table 5), which sometimes co-occurred. ...
Intergroup contact is key to social cohesion, yet psychological barriers block engagement with diversity even when contact opportunities are abundant. We lack an advanced understanding of contact seeking because intergroup contact is often an independent variable in research, and studies on contact seeking have favoured experimental probing of selected factors or measured only broad behavioural intentions. This research carried out the first ecological tests of a novel multilayer‐multivariate framework to contact seeking/avoiding. These tests were centred on a Muslim‐led community contact‐based initiative with visible support from local authorities following a terrorist attack. Non‐Muslim Australian women (N = 1,347) contributed field data on their situated contact motivations, choices, and attendance at an intercultural educational stall; many (N = 559) completed a profiling test battery. Among those who responded to the initiative invite, the rate of taking up the high‐salience contact opportunity in this heated setting was high and reflected multiple approach/avoidance motivations. Contact seeking/avoiding was not just allophilia/prejudice; it presented as new typologies of politicized solidarity, courage, apathy, and moral outrage. While intergroup predictors were significant across all profiling analyses, intrapersonal and interpersonal predictors also regularly contributed to explain variance in non‐Muslims’ contact motivations and choices, confirming their multilayer‐multivariate nature.
... Differences in the background of students contribute to conflicts, which can escalate to discrimination (Sturgis et al. 2014;Titzmann et al. 2015). But when students acknowledge the perspective of others from a different upbringing and belief system, it can facilitate openness, enhanced empathy (Miklikowska 2017), and even close friendships (Bagci et al. 2014). Thus, for further studies, two specific areas would benefit from more research on dialogues in intercultural and inter-ethnic classrooms: first, more research is needed on identifying specific situations in which conflicts arise in a heterogenous classroom. ...
This work takes off from the key concepts of Paul Weller's thoughts on contemporary challenges to dialogue, which it adapts to the context of children's dialogue in diverse classroom settings. The challenge in a diverse classroom is how to adapt a strategy to acknowledge the diversity of participants and reach a peaceful and productive dialogue. This article shows how Philosophy for Children (P4C) together with a phenomenological approach can be used as a tool for addressing the challenges Weller has mentioned to address the issue of children's differences. Then, this article shows the potential of using a phenomenological approach and lived experience to establish a bridge between Philosophy for Children, critical reflection and understanding differences in the classroom. This work argues that phenomenology as an approach is useful for P4C to have a dialogue aimed at understanding diversity, solidarity, and even pluralistic democratic engagement. Such discussions have implications for facilitating dialogue in linguistically diverse classrooms, intercultural and interethnic classrooms, and digital classrooms. Finally, this article identifies key areas for future research. This work seeks to speak and contribute to the literature on dialogic research by problematising children's discursive positions as learners and participants of dialogue.
... В последнее время пристальное внимание в философских, психолого-педагогических, социологических исследованиях уделяется изучению проблемы психологической безопасности личности, проявляющейся в стрессоустойчивости, оптимизме, уверенности в завтрашнем дне, самоуважении. Состояние психологической безопасности, по мнению отечественных и зарубежных ученых, включает защищенность личности от внешних угроз, конструктивное решение поставленных жизненных задач, переживание личностью состояния успеха [18][19][20][21][22][23]. ...
In this article, the authors analyze and summarize the scientific approaches of foreign and domestic researchers on the problem of studying psychological safety. The need for security is an urgent need for a modern personality, a factor, a basic component that ensures the harmonious mental and physical development of a growing person. This problem acquires particular urgency during the period of the initial formation of the child’s personality, in connection with a change in the social situation of development, increased mental tension, and the appearance of direct threats to the child’s personal health. The authors of the article analyzed scientific approaches to such definitions as “security”, “psychological security”, “psychological health” in the writings of Western European philosophers of the 17th-18th centuries, German classical philosophy of the 19th century (T. Hobbes, D. Locke, J.J. Russo, B. Spinoza, I. Kant, G. Hegel, L. Feuerbach and others), in studies of representatives of psychoanalytic, behaviorist and humanistic theory. Of particular interest are the studies of modern domestic and foreign scientists, revealing the concept of "psychological safety" at the macrosocial, mesosocial, microsocial levels, the conditions of psychological safety of adolescents; the formation of psychological immunity as an important component that ensures a healthy mental state of a person in a situation of stress. Based on the analysis of philosophical, sociological psychological and pedagogical literature, the authors identified a number of unresolved issues in the study of psychological safety: the influence of the psychological parameters of the educational environment on the mental state of children, the study of the mechanisms of psychological safety, the development of psychological technologies for the work of a teacher-psychologist with the educational environment, etc. The results of the study will contribute to improving the efficiency and improving the modern system of psychological safety of the individual.
... Further research in this area will assist the development of interventions to reduce the impact of negative contact. Positive contact can, for example, buffer people from negative cross-group experiences such as discrimination (Bagci, Kumashiro, Smith, & Rutland, 2014), and negative outgroup encounters . This buffering might be especially pronounced for HPs. ...
In a world characterized by divisive rhetoric, heightened xenophobia, and other forms of prejudice, it is increasingly important to find effective ways of promoting functional intergroup relations. Research on the relationship between intergroup contact and individual differences substantially contributes to achieving this goal. We review research considering the role played by individual differences in moderating the relationship between contact and prejudice and predicting contact, but also as an outcome of contact. We then outline potential directions for future research, including identifying underlying mechanisms, examining the role of context at an intergroup and societal level, and considering how positive–negative contact asymmetry may be influenced by individual differences. We then call for a broader range of individual difference and contact outcomes to be explored and encourage utilization of new methodological advances in the study of intergroup contact.
... Although there is a strong body of research which explores complex childhood relationships in culturally diverse contexts (Connelly, 1998;Grossman and Liang, 2008;Pache Huber and Spyrou, 2012;Tizard and Phoenix, 2002;Vincent et al., 2017), including Ireland (Curry et al., 2011;Devine, 2011), this has not focused explicitly on the critical support provided by intra-ethnic immigrant (IEI) friendships for identity exploration and affirmation in early adolescence, identified in a previous study by Hoare (2015). In addition, the friendship homophily literature typically focuses on the potential benefits of inter-ethnic friendships for encouraging social integration, diminishing discrimination and improving access to resources and information (Aboud et al., 2004;Bagci et al., 2014;Titzmann and Silbereisen, 2009). Furthermore, although qualitative methods have been widely used within childhood studies, they have been under-employed in the study of friendship homophily, in favour of self-reported, quantitatively analysed friendship network measures (Kiang et al., 2010;Kruse et al., 2016;Titzmann et al., 2011). ...
Intra-ethnic adolescent friendships can provide a safe space for the development of a sense of identity and belonging and this study explores the intra-ethnic friendship experiences of fifteen 11- to 12-year olds with non-Irish heritage in Ireland. The incorporation of principles and practices from expressive arts psychotherapy into creative focus groups and journaling within the governing framework of Dahlberg et al.’s reflective lifeworld approach provides different sensory pathways designed to optimise participant expression. Findings indicate that these friendships provide an affirming context for identity exploration, negotiation and enactment, with the journaling activity evoking more personal in-depth disclosures.
... Researchers have documented intragroup preferences beginning in early childhood (Ladd, 1990;Fishbein, 1996;Fishbein & Imai, 1993;Rutland et al., 2005) and have noted that intragroup friendships increase while intergroup friendships decrease as children develop (Aboud, Mendelson & Purdy 2003;Graham & Cohen, 1997;Graham et al., 1998;McGill, Way, & Hughes, 2012;Singleton & Asher, 1979). Children with intergroup friendships rated these as lower in quality than intragroup friendships (Aboud et al., 2003) and children rarely rate these relationships as "best friendships" (Reynolds, 2007) unless the friendships last through the initial formation and maintenance phase (Bagci et al., 2014). ...
Italian schools are increasingly diverse spaces in which children of
different racial and ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs, and cultural-linguistic
practices interact daily. Thus, these spaces provide fertile ground for a continuum
of relational experiences from positive intergroup relationships and friendships
to tensions and experiences of discrimination and marginalization. Research has
demonstrated that diverse spaces can be ideal for positive intergroup contact,
intergroup dialogue and the formation of intergroup friendship, which have
been associated with prejudice reduction and a decrease in intergroup anxiety.
Employing a theoretical framework based on intergroup contact theory (Allport,
1954) and research on intergroup friendships, (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2000; 2008;
Pettigrew, Tropp, Wagner, & Christ, 2011; Lease & Blake, 2005) this article
adds to a nascent interest in sociology of education research on intergroup
relations and friendships in Italian multiethnic schools. A large sample (n=1314)
of middle school students attending multiethnic classrooms in Southern Italy
were surveyed to understand the extent of their intergroup relationships,
perspectives on intergroup relations, and intergroup cooperative as well as
discriminatory behaviors. Findings reveal that the majority of the children in
the sample report having intergroup friendships. Native Italian children report
fewer intergroup friendships while non-Italian children report higher levels of
intergroup friendships. Yet, native Italian children report getting along better
with peers while non-Italian students report getting along less well with peers.
... Cameron and Turner (2017;Turner & Cameron, 2016) focused on the importance of creating the opportunity for children belonging to distinct groups to become friends. They note that cross-group friendships, in addition to producing benefits for the development of more positive intergroup relations (e.g., Bagci, Kumashiro, Smith, Blumberg, & Rutland, 2014;Feddes, Noack, & Rutland, 2009), can have positive effects beyond intergroup relations, such as increased social competence (Lease & Blake, 2005). Therefore, fostering cross-group friendships would represent a strong implementation of intergroup contact theory (Hodson & Hewstone, 2013). ...
Although research has shown that interventions within educational contexts based on direct, face-to- face contact are effective in reducing prejudice, they may be difficult to implement. Recent research has demonstrated that also indirect contact is a useful strategy to improve intergroup relations. In the present work, we focus on three forms of indirect contact which have received consistent attention by social psychologists in recent years: vicarious contact, extended contact, imagined contact. The interventions reviewed support indirect contact strategies as effective and flexible means of reducing prejudice within schools. In the final part of the article, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our literature review and provide some suggestions for future research.
... Research studies on children's intergroup friendships have been conducted since the 1980s. Over these decades it has been noted that children have significantly fewer intergroup friendships than intragroup ones (Aboud et al., 2003;Aboud & Sankar, 2007;Bagci, Kumashiro, Smith, Blumberg, & Rutland, 2014). Furthermore, other important aspects about these friendships have been identified. ...
This cross-cultural and cross-sectional study investigated Italian and US children’s perceptions of interethnic and interracial friendships, also known as intergroup friendships. A total sample of 226 children attending two urban, elementary schools in a middle-sized Northeastern US city and a middle-sized northern Italian city, were interviewed employing the questionnaire. Results indicate that Italian and US children’s perceptions of intra-racial and interracial friendships differed with students of color in the US rating intragroup friendships more positively than intergroup ones. In addition, students of color in Italy and white students in the US rated intergroup and intragroup friendships similarly.
... The authors detected higher relational densities among foreigners than among natives, result which they attribute to the fact that the group of natives is broader and, therefore, there are more friendship choices. In a similar vein, Bagci, Kumashiro, Smith, Blumberg, and Rutland (2014), in a very complete analysis and after controlling for a number of variables, observe how «the selection of cross-ethnic friends seemed to increase, as the number of available same-ethnic peers decreased». In other words, ethnic diversity has a positive effect on intercultural friendships, in line with intergroup contact theory (Allport, 1954). ...
This paper account for the relational dynamics that take place in high schools: the interculturality level in the networks of foreign students. Relational networks are characterized by their composition based on origin, identifying those exclusively consisting of native students, those in which only foreign students interact, and the intercultural networks themselves, where native and foreign students coexist. At this stage, I analyse the organizational factors that impede the integration of immigrant students in relational networks with presence of native students, as well as other factors that support the establishment of such networks. Specifically, the analysis focuses on how the organization of school classrooms impact the establishment of more or less intercultural relational networks. In short, there is one concern that motivate this paper: the existence of school dynamics that enhance ethnic ghettoization within schools and, therefore, impede social integration.
This research includes the analysis of all students enrolled in the last year of compulsory education (16 years-old) of eight high schools in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (for a total of 664 students from 28 classes). The analytical exploitation is based on a quantitative approach and network analysis (UCINET and Netdraw).
Main findings show that the identification of the classrooms with certain ability levels seems to imply a greater barrier between classrooms, which can lead to a greater or lower relational cohesion within the class, according to school organitzation. By contrast, ability levels do not have a direct impact on the degree of intercultural contact; although they do exert a significant influence, defining the possibilities of contact between groups.
... ı k is the class fixed effect for controlling for heterogeneity among groups, both observed and unobserved. The estimation with a class fixed effects model is due to the large evidence that relationships in a school class are affected not only by the number of immigrant students (Hallinan and Teixeira, 1987;Smith 1985, 1989;Moody, 2001;Vermeij et al., 2009;Baerveldt et al., 2007;Bagci et al., 2014) but also by the prevailing ethnicities in the class (Currarini et al., 2009;Goodreau et al., 2009). In addition, by including class fixed effects in the estimations, we are confident that our results are robust to the possible role played by teachers in promoting some links more than others. ...
We estimate the relative importance of ethnicity and individual characteristics, such as personality and cognitive skills, in determining social connections by using survey data on seven-year-old children from multi-ethnic schools (N = 453). We find that friendships are based mainly on common play, and are independent of the need to find help for school activity and homework. Friendship networks among children arise on the basis of their sex, but also according to affinity of personality and cognitive skills, as much as on ethnic background. These findings are worth considering when multiculturalism is chosen as the foundation of the immigration policies. Rather than emphasizing what makes the individuals in an ethnic group different, a farsighted policy could try to point to the elective affinity among individuals. However, since differences in individual characteristics may be systematically associated with ethnic background, this finding may point to a lasting reason for a lack of cohesion in multiethnic societies.
... They also provide a fertile ground for overt or covert discrimination in staff recruitment and management, strengthening the personnel's homogeneity (Mirza & Meetoo, 2012;Bariso, 2001). Perhaps more importantly, they greatly reduce the opportunity for White children's interaction and friendship with minority peers (Bagci et al., 2014). Available evidence suggests that cooperative contact can contain and even reverse the rise of prejudiced attitudes between middle childhood and adolescence , especially when it is endorsed by egalitarian school norms (Tropp & Prenovost, 2008). ...
Peer groups comprise individuals who are of similar age, not members of the same family, and potentially of similar standing or rank. In many cultures, peer groups are ubiquitous in children's experience, but the manner in which children participate within available groups and the consequences of their participation vary considerably. With reference to research that spans eight decades, this entry outlines the constructs that researchers have used to characterize the variation, discusses the factors that predict why children vary, and considers the implications of variation for social, psychoemotional, and educational development.
This paper, based on original qualitative and quantitative research undertaken as part of the author’s MA studies in African Christianity at Liverpool Hope University, explores the challenges faced by the Ghanaian Church of Pentecost-UK (CoP-UK) in sharing the love and good news of Jesus Christ with White British people, in the specific context of the UK’s postmodern culture. Arguing that, in this context, intentional investment by CoP-UK in cross-cultural friendships with White British people is likely to form the essential basis of trust for the discussion of issues of Christian faith, the paper discusses the barriers to engagement in such friendships posed by a generally negative perception of White British culture. The author’s approach to the original research and to subsequent follow up has been consciously relational and the potential contribution of this approach to future collaboration with CoP-UK, in addressing cross-cultural barriers, is also explored. The findings have potential relevance for other Black Majority Churches (BMCs), for other minority ethnic churches, and for everyone who is concerned to enable the God-given contributions of all ethnic groups to be ‘brought to the table’ in God’s wider evangelistic mission.
We investigated how and when individuals transform existing cross‐group interactions into more positive attitudes towards outgroups. Specifically focusing on the context of Syrian immigration to Turkey, we examined whether native children's cross‐group friendship self‐efficacy beliefs—the perception of their abilities about building successful cross‐group interactions—moderated the direct and indirect associations between cross‐group friendship quantity (measured by the number of Syrian friends), cross‐group friendship positivity and negativity, and attitudinal outcomes (outgroup attitudes, intergroup anxiety, and social distance). Analyses of correlational data (5th graders, N = 746) demonstrated that direct and indirect (through cross‐group friendship positivity) associations between cross‐group friendship quantity and positive intergroup outcomes were stronger among children who held greater self‐efficacy beliefs. Importantly, quantity of such friendships was related to more negative intergroup outcomes through negative contact experiences among children who reported lower self‐efficacy beliefs. Theoretical implications of the findings and possible interventions targeting self‐efficacy beliefs in intergroup contact strategies were discussed.
Göçmen bireyler sosyal, ekonomik, politik ve psikolojik birçok problem yaşamaktadır. Bu problemlerin başında ise göçmenlerin göç ettikleri yerde yaşadıkları uyum problemleri gelmektedir. Göçmenlik olgusu kendi içinde birçok farklı göç türünü barındırmaktadır. Bu yüzden bu çalışmada göçmenlik olgusu, bir ülkeden veya bir yerden başka bir ülkeye veya aynı ülkenin içinde farklı bir yere daimi veya geçici göç etmeyi ifade edecek şekilde kullanılmıştır. Bu kapsamda, bu çalışmadagöçmen öğrenciler ile kast edilen mülteci/ sığınmacı/ ekonomik veya başka nedenlerden kaynaklı göç eden öğrencilerin tümü için kullanılmıştır. Bu anlamda bu çalışmanın amacı, göçmen öğrencilerin toplumsal uyumlarında temasın önemini ve göçmen çocuklarına yönelik önyargı ve ayrımcı tutumları düşürmede temasın etkisini inceleyen araştırmaları sistematik bir şekilde incelemektir. Çalışma kapsamında 2000 yılı sonrasında göçmen çocukların okula
uyumlarına yönelik Web of Science ve DergiPark veri tabanlarında Türkçe ve İngilizce dilllerinde yayımlanmış araştırma makaleleri içerik analiziyle incelenmiştir. Çalışma bağlamında incelenen 47 makale sonucunda ‘doğrudan temas’ (olumlu ve olumsuz temaslar) ve ‘dolaylı temas’ (e-temas, yayılmacı temas, hayali temas, para-sosyal temsili temas ve kuşaklararası aktarımlı temas) türlerinde araştırmalara rastlanmıştır. Bu çalışmaların çoğunda gruplar arası temasın göçmen çocuklara yönelik önyargıyı, ayrımcı tutumları zayıflatma etkisine bakılmış ve temas türlerinin tümünün göçmen çocuklara yönelik olumsuz tutumları düşürdüğü ve göçmen çocukların uyumunu iyileştirmede önemli bir rolü olabileceği düşünülmüştür.
Abstrak: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) atau Matlamat Pembangunan Mampan dilancarkan dalam Perhimpunan Agung PBB pada tahun 2015. Tujuannya adalah untuk mencapai pembangunan mampan bersifat holistik menjelang tahun 2030 ke arah kesejahteraan masyarakat global. Prinsip SDGs adalah 'Leave No One Behind' dengan 17 matlamat utama. SDGs penting untuk dilaksanakan kerana ia berpaksikan hak-hak asasi manusia yang menjurus kepada pembangunan sosial, ekonomi dan persekitaran. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk membincangkan kaitan secara umum di antara dua matlamat SDGs iaitu matlamat pendidikan (matlamat ke-4) dan matlamat keamanan (matlamat ke-16) dengan aspek hubungan etnik rentas agama dan budaya dalam kalangan pelajar. Penelitian adalah secara kualitatif dengan menggunakan kaedah analisis kandungan beberapa penulisan dan kajian berkaitan. Kajian ini juga bertujuan untuk meninjau pengalaman interaksi pelajar di sekolah dalam aspek hubungan etnik rentas agama dan budaya menggunakan kaedah kuantitatif. Data dianalisis dengan teknik SPSS terhadap soal selidik yang dijawab oleh 207 orang peserta kajian bagi membolehkan pengkaji memahami dengan lebih mendalam terhadap isu yang dikaji. Dengan adanya kajian ini, satu penelitian awal terhadap signifikasi hubungan etnik rentas agama dan budaya dalam kalangan pelajar di sekolah dapat dihasilkan menerusi
Gruplar arası çatışmanın yüksek seviyede hissedildiği toplumlarda, her iki grup da kendi üyelerini çatışmanın haksızlığa uğramış tek kurbanı olarak görür. Bu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye'de yaşayan Türk ve Kürt katılımcılar arasında rekabetçi mağduriyet algısını (Competitive Victimhood Beliefs) gruplar arası temas (Intergroup Contact) bağlamında incelemek ve bu ilişkiyi açıklayabilecek iki sosyal-psikolojik değişkenin-dış grubun bakış açısını alma ve iç grupla özdeşleşme-aracı rolünü test etmektedir. Çalışmaya farklı illerden toplamda 234 katılımcı (142 Türk, 92 Kürt; 152 Kadın, 81 Erkek, 1 Bilinmeyen, Ort yaş = 22.39, S = 3.96) dahil edilmiş; katılımcılara demografik form, gruplar arası arkadaşlık niteliği, dış grubun bakış açısını alma, iç grup kimlikle özdeşleşme ve rekabetçi mağduriyet ölçeklerini içeren çevrimiçi anket-ler dağıtılmıştır. PROCESS makrosu ile incelediğimiz aracı modelinde, gruplar arası arkadaşlık niteliğinin rekabetçi mağduriyet ile doğrudan ilişkisinin olumsuz olduğu, bu ilişkinin artan dış grubun bakış açısını alma ve azalan iç grupla özdeşleşme ile açıklandığı bulunmuştur. Sonuçlar çatışmalı grup ilişkilerinde uzlaşmanın sağlanmasında, gruplar arası temas ve rekabetçi mağduriyet algısının bir arada incelenmesinin önemini ortaya koymaktadır.
Many researchers and practitioners consider ethnic segregation in neighborhoods, or schools detrimental to migrants’ acculturation in host societies. Empirically, however, segregation is a “mixed bag” and its effects depend crucially on the investigated acculturation domain (e.g., negative for language skills, positive for well-being). As most prior studies have focused on a restricted spectrum of acculturation, a comprehensive assessment within one single study is needed to establish comparability across different acculturation domains. Among over 8,000 immigrant-background students from four countries, we investigated the association of classroom segregation, defined as opportunities for contact with natives and other migrants, with a broad spectrum of acculturation (academic, attitude-related, identity-related, social, health-related, and psychological criteria). Some findings were consistent (e.g., academic acculturation), some were contrary to prior research (e.g., social acculturation). In sum, our results shed light on the “mixed bag” of segregation and contribute to the understanding of a crucial social issue.
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Friendship may be significantly associated with adolescents’ psychological well-being. Among various kinds of friendships, this study investigated two types of intergroup friendships among Chinese adolescents, specifically cross-hukou-location and cross-gender friendship. Fixed-effects modeling with a two-wave national dataset—the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS)—was performed to evaluate the relationship between within-individual changes in cross-hukou-location friendship, cross-gender friendship, and mental health status ( N = 5,297, boys: 50.18%, average age: 12.92 at wave 1). The relationship pattern among different genders was also explored. The results showed that cross-hukou-location friendship is positively associated with male adolescents’ mental health status. The cross-gender relationship is negatively related to mental health in the overall sample and female subsample. The findings not only emphasized the vital role of intergroup contact but also shed light on understanding the role of gender in intergroup friendship-making and the relationship with psychological well-being.
This paper aims to shed light on protective processes contributing to resilience and adjustment of asylum seekers. To unravel the processes underlying involuntary migration in depth, the narrations of Syrian and Iraqian asylum seekers’ pre-war, war and postwar period experiences were analyzed. Participants were recruited in reception centers located in a middle-sized town in Austria through local NGOs. The study included 14 asylum seekers (4 women), aged 18–46 years, who participated in face-to-face interviews. Data analysis revealed that hope and resilience were the underlying processes for asylum seekers to cope with life challenges in restricted environments and were the sources for their strength and motivation. Five phases of the migration process characterized by a series of goals and individual pathways that were implemented into practice were identified in the narratives. Understanding these goals, pathways, and sources of strength of asylum seekers within restricted contexts can guide social workers, counselors, and other professionals to enhance the efficacy of their practice, inform policy development, and form the basis for potential research.
It was examined whether the implementation of a whole-school anti-bullying program is able to increase cross-cultural friendships among 450 non-immigrant and 607 immigrant youth aged 10–14 years (M = 11.64 years, SD = 0.80). Over a period of one school year, teachers received three in-school trainings and implemented a 13-week social competence project in their classes. The social competence project was structured to foster the cross-cultural friendship potential in the classes by utilizing equal status, common goals, cooperation, and authority support. To investigate program effectiveness, a cluster randomized control study was realized, and longitudinal social network data were gathered. In total, 2-wave longitudinal data set was available from 11 intervention schools (53 classes, N = 719) and 5 control schools (27 classes, N = 338). Reciprocal and unilateral same-cultural friendship preference indices were calculated based on the social network data. Controlling for several class-level variables, multilevel growth modelling revealed no program effects regarding reciprocal same-cultural friendship preferences. However, a buffer effect on unilateral same-cultural friendship preferences among Turkish immigrant youth was found. The value of real-world teacher-led contact interventions to foster cross-cultural friendships is discussed.
Cross-ethnic friendships are at the heart of the immigration experience. We examine the incidence and change of co-ethnic friendship groups among 1.5 and second-generation immigrant youth in Canada using the nationally representative Ethnic Diversity Survey. We find that visible minority immigrant youth friendships are more co-ethic than those of non-visible minority immigrant youth. We also find visible minority individuals’ friendship groups become more co-ethnic over time. In addition, we find differences in the pattern and direction of change across different visible minority immigrant youth groups. We interpret these findings in light of theories of assimilation and segmented assimilation.
Bu çalışmanın amacı, aynı sınıflarda birlikte eğitim gören Türkiyeli ve Suriyeli ilkokul öğrencilerinin birbirlerine ilişkin tutumlarını, okul psikolojik danışmanlarının deneyimleri çerçevesinde incelemektedir. Çalışma, nitel araştırma yaklaşımlarından fenomenolojik yaklaşım kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmada veri toplamak için yarı-yapılandırılmış görüşme tekniği kullanılmıştır. Araştırmada veriler, 8 erkek, 32 kadın olmak üzere toplam 40 psikolojik danışman ile görüşme yapılarak toplanmıştır. Nitel veriler tematik analiz tekniği kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Araştırmanın sonucunda, Türkiyeli ve Suriyeli ilkokul öğrencilerinin birbirlerine ilişkin tutumlarının oluşmasında etkili olan temaların başında, aynı sınıfta birlikte eğitim görmelerinin, ortak dilin ve iletişim kapasitesinin, gruplararası temasın ve arkadaşlığın, kabul edilme/ait olma duygularının, dışla(n)ma ve kendini üstün görme algısının, iç-grup dayanışmasının, özgüvenin, akademik başarının, öğretmen davranışlarının ve öğrencilerin ailelerinin dış-gruba ilişkin tepkilerinin geldiği saptanmıştır. Bu bağlamda, aynı sınıflarda birlikte eğitim gören Türkiyeli ve Suriyeli öğrencilerin, sınıf içinde ve dışında doğrudan temas edecekleri ve birlikte görev alacakları karma etkinliklerin planlanıp, yapılandırılarak sıkça uygulanmasının, gruplararası olumlu tutumları geliştireceği söylenebilir.
Across two studies (N Study 1 = 101; N Study 2 = 262) conducted among children in the UK, we incorporate Bandura's (1986) self-efficacy theory to intergroup contact literature and introduce the new construct of cross-ethnic friendship self-efficacy (CEFSE), the belief that one can successfully form and maintain high-quality cross-ethnic friendships. Study 1 examined whether sources of CEFSE beliefs (prior contact, indirect contact, social norms, and intergroup anxiety) predicted higher quality cross-ethnic friendships through CEFSE. Study 2 replicated Study 1 and extended it by including perceived parental cross-ethnic friendship quality as a further predictor. In both studies, sources of self-efficacy beliefs (except social norms) were related to CEFSE, which predicted higher quality cross-ethnic friendships. Study 2 demonstrated that parental cross-ethnic friendships had direct and indirect associations with children's cross-ethnic friendships through sources of CEFSE and CEFSE beliefs. Findings are discussed in the light of self-efficacy and intergroup contact theories.
Social network analysis was used to examine the role of having a mutual biracial friend on cross‐race friendship nominations among monoracial sixth‐grade students (Mage = 10.56 years) in two racially diverse middle schools (n = 385; n = 351). Monoracial youth were most likely to choose same‐race peers as friends but more likely to choose biracial than different‐race peers as friends, suggesting that racial homophily may operate in an incremental way to influence friendships. Monoracial different‐race youth were also more likely to be friends if they had a mutual biracial friend. The findings shed light on the unique role that biracial youth play in diverse friendship networks. Implications for including biracial youth in studies of cross‐race friendship are discussed.
The objective of this study is to analyze the sociability of migrant children in schools in Yurécuaro, Michoacán, Mexico. To this end, we recorded interactions and researched the friendships reported by the children and their parents. The explanatory model we used has implied an interpretation of the ethnographic evidence, taking into account the unequal relationships of cultural groups in contact. We found indications that the sociability of migrant children at school faces obstacles that limit their potential. Our conclusion is that calling attention to unequal relationships, which at the same time are economic, political, and symbolic, provides a broader panorama of intercultural education.
The purpose of our research is to reveal how various forms of aggression affect the types of interpersonal relations between teenagers learning in mono and multi ethnic environment. Aggression was diagnosed with the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI); the type of interpersonal relations was determined by Timothy Leary's Interpersonal Behavior Circle Personal Inventory (the "Leary" Personality Test). Differences in the forms of aggression showed by teenagers learning in mono and multi ethnic environment were identified with the Student's t-test; relationship between forms of aggression and types of interpersonal relations were identified with the Spearman Rank-Order Correlation (p). The sample involved 236 teenagers between the ages of 13.5-15. The study revealed differences between forms of aggression showed by teenagers learning in mono and multi ethnic environment such as indirect aggression, negativism, guilt and suspicion. Correlation analysis revealed differences in the relationship between forms of aggression such as assault aggression, indirect aggression, guilt and types of interpersonal relationships. It was found that the multiethnic composition of micro-society reduces the manifestation of many forms of aggression among teens, increases the sense of guilt and does not affect any type of interpersonal relationships.
The purpose of the present study is to investigate gender and cultural background similarities among adolescents’ patterns of networking within a multicultural Finnish school. The participants consisted of 109 seventh to ninth graders who represented three cultural groups: major-culture (n = 50; 46%), bi-culture (n = 26; 24%) and minor-culture (n = 33; 30%). A social networking questionnaire was administered to trace face-to-face, Facebook, and academic support networks within each classroom. Results of social network analysis revealed that bi-culture students were culturally the most open to network with their classmates in face-to-face contacts, Facebook connections and peer academic support. Female students were more inclined to use Facebook to connect with other female classmates whereas males were equally likely to connect with either gender via Facebook. No gender similarities were found in academic support network although female students were more apt to engage in academic support than their male counterparts.
Supporting interethnic and interracial friendships in schools among children and adolescents is an important part of a progressive educational agenda informed in equity, social justice frameworks, and critical multicultural education that leads to a reduction in racial prejudice. Positive intergroup contact is a necessary condition in prejudice reduction and the development of positive racial attitudes among ethnically and racially diverse groups of children and adolescents. School counseling initiatives focused on promoting interethnic and interracial friendships can have significant individual and systemic consequences such as: improving social, emotional, and cultural competence among youth; prejudice reduction; and the creation of equitable educational spaces informed in multicultural and social justice worldviews.
ABSTRACT This article aims to understand the factors of academic failure of ''immigrant'' students. After taking into account the main theories on this issue, we will focus our attention towards the analytical frameworks of the ''peers relations'' and the ''ethnicization of the school environment''. Through a qualitative study currently underway, we set out the approach that for ''immigrant'' students the combination of factors that can lead to school dropouts are strengthened by an extra variable, namely the ethnicization of their peer relations, which can become, according the situations, a factor penalizing their school career.
RESUME
Cet article s'attache à comprendre les facteurs d'échec scolaire des élèves « immigrés ». Après une revue des explications dominantes, nous aborderons les cadres analytiques propres aux « relations entre pairs » et à l'« ethnicisation de l'espace scolaire ». La piste, sur laquelle nous sommes en train de travailler au moyen d'une étude qualitative, prévoit que pour les élèves « immigrés », la combinaison de facteurs habituellement considérés comme pouvant conduire à des formes d'échec scolaire telles que le décrochage scolaire, se double d'une variable supplémentaire, à savoir l'ethnicisation de leur statut au sein des relations entre pairs, laquelle peut devenir, selon les situations, un facteur pénalisant le déroulement de la scolarité.
Warnick and Landis provide an overview of the major models of intercultural relations to serve as a foundation for the subsequent chapters in this text. The reader will gain a greater understanding of how the emerging field of cultural neuroscience can be applied to intercultural relations. Additionally, this chapter offers a brief guide to the book.
Intergroup contact theory proposes that positive interactions between members of different social groups can improve intergroup relations. Contact should be especially effective in schools, where opportunities may exist to engage cooperatively with peers from different backgrounds and develop cross-group friendships. In turn, these friendships have numerous benefits for intergroup relations. However, there is evidence that children do not always engage in cross-group friendships, often choosing to spend time with same-group peers, even in diverse settings. We argue that in order to capitalize on the potential impact of contact in schools for promoting harmonious intergroup relations, a new model is needed that places confidence in contact at its heart. We present an empirically driven theoretical model of intergroup contact that outlines the conditions that help to make young people contact ready, preparing them for successful, sustained intergroup relationships by giving them the confidence that they can engage in contact successfully. After evaluating the traditional approach to intergroup contact in schools, we present our theoretical model which outlines predictors of cross-group friendships that enhance confidence in and readiness for contact. We then discuss theory-driven, empirically tested interventions that could potentially promote confidence in contact. Finally, we make specific recommendations for practitioners and policy makers striving to promote harmonious intergroup relations in the classroom. © 2016 The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.
Supporting interethnic and interracial friendships in schools among children and adolescents is an important part of a progressive educational agenda informed in equity, social justice frameworks, and critical multicultural education that leads to a reduction in racial prejudice. Positive intergroup contact is a necessary condition in prejudice reduction and the development of positive racial attitudes among ethnically and racially diverse groups of children and adolescents. School counseling initiatives focused on promoting interethnic and interracial friendships can have significant individual and systemic consequences such as: improving social, emotional, and cultural competence among youth; prejudice reduction; and the creation of equitable educational spaces informed in multicultural and social justice worldviews.
This article analyzes the development of racial and gender homophily in a population of 2,135 schoolchildren, grades 3-12, in all public schools in a biracial Southern community. Sociometric friendship nominations were used to examine changes in racial and gender segregation and preference. The results suggest that for these major status variables, the relationship between homophily and grade is curvilinear, first increasing because of increments in racial homophily from elementary to middle school (while gender homophily remains stable), then decreasing owing to the decline of gender homophily from middle school onward (while racial homophily remains stable). The findings are most consistent with theories that give the middle school a prominent role in shaping peer relations.
This research examines quasi-experimentally for the first time whether direct contact moderates the extended contact effect amongst children, and whether the extended contact effect is mediated by either in-group or out-group norms about cross-ethnic friendships. We tested two forms of extended contact (Dual identity and Common in-group identity) among ethnic majority children aged 6—11 years (white—English, n = 153) with differing levels of high quality (i.e., cross-ethnic friendships) or low quality (i.e., acquaintances) direct contact with the Indian—English out-group. As expected, the extended contact effect was demonstrated only amongst children who reported less high quality direct contact. Furthermore, we found the effect of extended contact was mediated by out-group norms. We also found evidence of moderated mediation, with the indirect effect of extended contact through in-group norms being significantly stronger amongst older children. The implications for extended contact theory and the future development of prejudice-reduction interventions amongst children are discussed.
Because of segregation in neighborhoods and schools, college may provide the first opportunity for many young adults to interact closely with members of different racial and ethnic groups. Little research has examined how interracial friendships form during this period. This article investigates changes in the racial composition of friendship networks in the transition from high school to college and how aspects of the college environment are related to such changes. Interracial friendships increase for whites, decrease for blacks, and show little change for Latinos and Asians. The habits of friendship formation that are acquired during adolescence and features of residential and extracurricular college contexts influence the formation of interracial friendships. The race of one's roommate, the degree of interracial contact in residence halls, and participation in various types of extracurricular activities are most strongly related to the formation of interracial friendships.
As the currents of globalisation edge the number and proportion of immigrant groups in towns and cities throughout the world ever higher, the question of whether and how ethnic diversity affects the social cohesion of communities has become an increasingly prominent and contested topic of academic and political debate. The majority of extant empirical investigations of this question have considered the effect of diversity across a national distribution of neighbourhoods. In this paper we focus on a single city: London. As possibly the most ethnically diverse conurbation on the planet, London serves as a particularly suitable test-bed for theories about the effects of ethnic heterogeneity on pro-social attitudes. Counter to the majority of existing studies, we find neighbourhood ethnic diversity in London to be positively related to the perceived social cohesion of neighbourhood residents, once the level of economic deprivation is accounted for. Ethnic segregation within neighbourhoods, on the other hand, is associated with lower levels of perceived social cohesion. Both effects are strongly moderated by the age of individual residents; diversity has a positive effect on social cohesion for young people but this effect dissipates in older age groups, the reverse pattern is found for ethnic segregation.
An increasing amount of research explores how children distinguish different aspects of ethnic group attitudes. However, little work has focused on how these aspects tie in with other social and psychological processes. In the present study, 112 black and white children aged 5-, 7- and 9-years completed tests of implicit and explicit ethnic group attitudes, racial and ethnic identification, and self-esteem. Whereas all children exhibited coherent identification with ethnicity defined in terms of family ancestry, only black children identified with ethnicity as defined by racial colour terms. There were no differences in black and white children's self-esteem. Children from both ethnic groups stereotyped only the black character. This stereotyping was stable with age. Positivity was greater towards the black than the white target on implicit and explicit tasks. Negativity towards the white target was evidenced on the implicit task. Positivity, but not stereotyping, was greater on the explicit task compared with the implicit task. Black but not white children's in-group identification was associated with implicit in-group stereotypes. Self-esteem was related to in- and out-group stereotyping and positivity for white but not black children. The implications of these results for social identity development theory and social identity theory are discussed.
Data for this longitudinal study were collected from over 2000 White, Asian, Latino, and African American college students. Results indicated that students who exhibited more ingroup bias and intergroup anxiety at the end of their first year of college had fewer outgroup friends and more ingroup friends during their second and third years of college, controlling for pre-college friendships and other background variables. In addition, beyond these effects of prior ethnic attitudes and orientations on friendship choices, those with more outgroup friendships and fewer ingroup friendships during their second and third years of college showed less ingroup bias and intergroup anxiety at the end of college, controlling for the prior attitudes, pre-college friendships, and background variables. Results are discussed in terms of the contact hypothesis.
Although numerous studies have examined the consequences of social contact between black and white Americans, relatively little is known about the determinants of such contact. Drawing on a survey of residents of the Detroit area, this article probes to what extent and in what manner interracial contact (a) has changed over the past quarter century and (b) is shaped by propinquity and personal characteristics. Interracial contact is more common than it was during the late 1960s, especially for whites, but still consists primarily of brief, superficial encounters. For whites, the quantity and quality of contact with blacks are determined primarily by propinquity. For blacks, place of residence matters less, and early childhood experiences matter more.
We examine processes that govern the selection of cross-race and same-race friends among high school students. Relying on social psychological theories of interpersonal attraction, we predict that individual- and school-level factors that affect the bases of attraction will influence the friendship choices. We test hypotheses using data from the sophomore and senior cohorts of the High School and Beyond Survey. Its large sample, national representativeness, and detailed information permit a deeper examination of the determinants of adolescent friendship formation than has been previously possible. Students are only one-sixth as likely to choose a cross-race than a same-race peer as a friend, and controls for school and individual variables account for only a third of this differential. While personal characteristics of individual students and pairs of students have the strongest effects on friendship choices, organizational characteristics of the school, such as tracking, are also important.
We examine the processes involved in the development of interracial friendships. Using Reis and Shaver’s intimacy model, we explore the extent to which disclosure and perceived partner responsiveness influence intimacy levels in developing interracial and intraracial friendships. White and ethnic minority participants completed diary measures of self and partner disclosure and partner responsiveness every two weeks for 10 weeks about an in-group and an out-group person whom they thought they would befriend over time. The results revealed that perceived partner responsiveness mediated the relationships between both self and partner disclosure and intimacy in interracial and intraracial relationships. The implications of these results for intergroup relations are discussed.
Integrated schools may still be substantively segregated if friendships fall within race. Drawing on contact theory, this study tests whether school organization affects friendship segregation in a national sample of adolescent friendship networks. The results show that friendship segregation peaks in moderately heterogeneous schools but declines at the highest heterogeneity levels. As suggested by contact theory, in schools where extracurricular activities are integrated, grades tightly bound friendship, and races mix within tracks, friendship segregation is less pronounced. The generally positive relation between heterogeneity and friendship segregation suggests that integration strategies built on concentrating minorities in large schools may accentuate friendship segregation.
IntroductionChildren's and Adolescents' Knowledge and Perceptions of DiscriminationFactors That Affect Perceptions of DiscriminationEmerging Areas of Research
This study examined the effect of school organizational structure on interracial friendships among middle school students. Students evaluated a white friend and a black friend on a modified semantic differential scale and reported the number of their other-race friends. Responses of students in two team-structured schools were contrasted to those of students in three traditionally structured schools. Multivariate analysis revealed that the organization of a school affects number of other-race friends and that whites with even "some" black friends are more positive in their perceptions of blacks than are those who report having "almost no" black friends. Variations in the nature and extent of contact between white and black students in schools does affect the racial attitudes of whites. Black students rated white and black friends the same regardless of the organizational structure of the school.
This study examined the links between children's perceptions of the manner in which they and their parents adjust their relationships during early adolescence and early adolescents' orientation toward parents and peers. A sample of 1,771 children completed self-report questionnaires during the spring of their 6th and 7th grades. As predicted, early adolescents who believed their parents asserted and did not relax their power and restrictiveness were higher in an extreme form of peer orientation. Also as predicted, those who perceived few opportunities to be involved in decision making, as well as no increase in these opportunities, were higher in both extreme peer orientation and peer advice seeking. Discussion focuses on the importance for parent-child relationships to adjust to early adolescents' changing developmental needs, as well as the implications of early adolescent peer orientation for later development.
Objective. Even though schools are characterized by an unprecedented amount of racial diversity, it is unclear whether a racially diverse student body necessarily translates into friendships between adolescents from different racial groups. We examine how schools structure adolescent racial homophily, that is, adolescents' tendency to form friendships with students who are similar with respect to race. Methods. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examine how the racial composition of schools influences the chances of having an interracial friendship for U.S. adolescents in grades seven through twelve. Results. Our results demonstrate that white, black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American adolescents differ greatly in their chances of having an interracial friendship. They additionally demonstrate that adolescents' chances of having an interracial friendship increase dramatically as the proportion of same-race students in their schools decreases. Finally, they suggest that school racial composition accounts for a large part of the variation in interracial friendship by race, but not for all of it. Conclusions. We conclude that racial differences in interracial friendship reflect opportunities and preferences for interracial contact.
Social structures are defined by their parameters--the criteria underlying the differentiation among people and governing social interaction, such as sex, race, socioeconomic status, and power. The analysis of various forms of differentiation, their interrelations, and their implications for integration and change is the distinctive task of sociology. Two generic types of differentiation are heterogeneity and status inequality. Nominal parameters divide people into subgroups and engender heterogeneity. Graduated parameters differentiate people in terms of status rankings and engender inequality. The macrosocial integration of the diverse groups in modern society rests on its multiform heterogeneity resulting from many crosscutting parameters. For although heterogeneity entails barriers to social intercourse multiform heterogeneity undermines these barriers and creates structural constraints to establish intergroup relations. Crosscutting lines of differentiation thus foster processes of social integration, and they also foster processes of recurrent change. Strongly interrelated parameters impede these processes of integration and adjustment, however. (Such relationships between parameters--for example, between the occupation and income of individuals--must not be confused with the relationships between forms of differentiation--for example, between the division of labor and income inequality in societies.) Pronounced correlations of parameters reveal a consolidated status structure, which intensifies inequalities and discourages intergroup relations and gradual change. The growing concentration of resources and powers in large organizations and their top executives poses a serious threat of structural consolidation in contemporary society.
This study examines the effects of school organizational structure on students' interracial and cross-sex communication patterns. Data were collected from approximately one third of the students in two schools serving grades 6, 7, and 8 (n = 677). The first school, Middle School, provided formal and informal cross-group contact opportunities similar to those described by Gordon Allport as essential in the reduction of prejudice. The curriculum of the second school, Junior High, did not provide contact opportunities. Multiple analyses of variance revealed significant differences between the two schools in both cross- and within-race communication. Additionally, in both schools white and black females were found to occupy distinctive social roles. While white females were the center of much of their schools' social interaction, black females were virtually isolated from classmates. These results provide evidence that schools can structure their curricula to improve minority-majority interactions. Questions about race-sex socialization are also raised.
To examine the unique functions of same- and cross-ethnic friendships, Latino (n = 536) and African American (n = 396) sixth-grade students (Mage = 11.5 years) were recruited from 66 classrooms in 10 middle schools that varied in ethnic diversity. Participants reported on the number of same- and cross-ethnic friends, perceived vulnerability, friendship quality, and the private regard dimension of ethnic identity. Whereas same-ethnic friendships were uniquely associated with stronger private regard, more ethnic diversity and cross-ethnic friendships were uniquely associated with less perceived vulnerability. Multilevel structural equation modeling tested whether cross-ethnic friendships mediated the diversity-vulnerability relation. Although cross-ethnic friendships did not significantly mediate this relation at the classroom level, these friendships predicted less vulnerability at the individual student level.
Britain has seen a significant increase in the size of its ethnic minority population over the past 20 years. Because of the relatively youthful age structure of the ethnic minority population, the percentage of ethnic minorities in the school age-groups is much higher than its share of the overall population. Given the very uneven geographical distribution of ethnic minorities, this has raised concerns over the extent of school ethnic segregation. This paper examines the changing distribution of ethnic minority secondary school pupils in England over the period 1999–2009. It shows that, while there have been big increases in the percentage of ethnic minorities in those local authorities with existing concentrations, with ethnic minorities comprising over 50 per cent of pupils in 24 urban authorities in 2009, the dominant trend has been one of an increase in the percentage of ethnic minority pupils across the board combined with the increasing diffusion of ethnic minorities across all local authorities, rather than increasing concentration in a small number of authorities.
Contact theories on the development of ethnocentrism assume that interaction with ethnic minority representatives will reduce prejudice. We test this assumption among a representative sample of Belgian late adolescents (n=2828), taking the class level as interaction context. Given an average class size of 13 pupils/class, it can be expected that within the class room an intensive interaction between pupils occurs, thus providing an ideal setting for testing the contact hypothesis. The Belgian Political Panel Study (BPPS, 2006–2008) allows for longitudinal multilevel analysis, tracing effects over time. The analysis shows no significant effects of diversity as such on ethnocentrism. The perception of ethnic and cultural tensions at school, however, is associated with the strengthening of prejudice two years later on. A dating thermometer question had a significant relation with diversity level, but this more personal question too reacted strongly to the presence of ethnic tensions. We conclude that there is no mechanical effect of diversity in class rooms, but that this effect is dependent on the perceived quality of the intergroup relations, in line with the contact theory as developed by Allport and Pettigrew.
To advance social integration, policy makers strive for the educational desegregation of immigrant students in Flemish schools. Given the lack of empirical research supporting this policy, this article examines the association between the ethnic composition of schools and native and immigrant students' interethnic friendships, social participation, and sense of belonging in school. Blau's structural theory offers the theoretical rationale for these associations and the coherence of the three indicators. Multilevel analyses of data from a 2004–05 survey of 11,872 students, 1,324 of whom were immigrant students, in a sample of 85 Flemish secondary schools demonstrate that school ethnic composition is associated with interethnic friendships and social participation for native students, but not for immigrant students, whereas socioeconomic status is decisive for immigrant students' interethnic friendships. Neither immigrants' nor natives' sense of belonging in school is associated with ethnic composition. Hence, while the findings do not provide support for either school segregation or desegregation policies aimed at improving the social integration of immigrant students, mixing schools appears to have a positive influence on the social integration of Flemish youths. The consequences of these findings for future research and social policy are discussed in the conclusions.
Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (or Add Health), a nationally representative sample of adolescents in 1994–1995, we examine if and how friendship activities differ among interracial, interethnic, and interethnic friendships of white, black, Hispanic, and Asian youths. We find that best friends are more likely than higher-order friends to be from the same ethnic group and that best friends report more shared activities during the past week than do their higher-order friendship counterparts. Hence, we argue that shared activities is a useful indicator of friendship intimacy. In general, interracial friends report fewer shared activities than do intraracial friends, although this difference is strongest for white respondents. Moreover, we find that white, Asian, and Hispanic youths all report fewer activities with their black friends. We find little difference in friendship activities between interethnic and intraethnic friendships. Our findings suggest that, even when youths manage to break racial boundaries in friendship selection, these friendships face greater challenges than do those between individuals of the same race.
Longitudinal sociometric data on adolescent friendship pairs, friends-to-be, and former friends are examined to assess levels of homophily on four attributes (frequency of current marijuana, use, level of educational aspirations, political orientation, and participation in minor delinquency) at various stages of friendship formation and dissolution. In addition, estimates are developed of the extent to which observed homophily in friendship dyads results from a process of selection (assortative pairing), in which similarity precedes association and the extent to which it results from a process of socialization in which association leads to similarity. The implications of the results for interpreting estimates of peer influence derived from cross-sectional data are discussed.
This article examines the perspectives of Caribbean young people in Britain in order to examine the issue of friendship networks. The research shows that the young people interviewed have a vast array of friendship networks across diverse ethnic groups. However, the majority of the Caribbean young people in the study acknowledged that their three closest friends or 'best friends' shared their own ethnic background. It was these friends that most strongly matched the values associated with social capital, such as trust, reciprocity, emotional support, community, and identity. By drawing on the theory advanced by Robert Putnam, the analysis explores how Caribbean young people use 'bonding' social capital to establish same-ethnic friendship networks and 'bridging' social capital to develop cross-ethnic friendship bonds. It will also investigate the particular factors that facilitated these same-ethnic friendship networks, including transitions to secondary school and university, and family and parental influence on friendship choice, as well as more wider changes that occur in the life course.
This study examines the effects of the racial composition of a classroom on students' cross-race and same-race friendships. Two "theories" of interracial sociability are discussed. The first argues that interracial friendliness is affected primarily by the number of opportunities students have for cross-race interaction relative to same-race interaction. It predicts that students in the numerical minority are likely to make more cross-race friendship choices than those in the majority. The second theory claims that the racial minority is socially threatened by the majority and tends to isolate itself from the more dominant and powerful other race. These predictions are examined over a school year in longitudinal data set of 473 elementary school students in 18 desegregated classes. The results provide strong support for the opportunity hypothesis and show little evidence that being in the racial minority diminishes interracial friendliness.
Intergroup contact and friendship are keystones to the reduction of prejudice, yet most available data on this topic are based on indices that do not actually reflect contact or relationships. This study examined various indices of peer relations (viz., interactive companions, mutual friendships, and the stability and perceived qualities of mutual friends) for elementary school students who differed in grade, gender, and racial background; and it explored whether racial attitudes were associated with befriending or avoiding classmates. Cross-race mutual friendships declined with grade, and among fifth-graders were less likely to show 6-month stability than same-race friendships. Despite overall same-race selectivity, mutual cross-race friends, once selected, did not differ significantly from same-race ones in friendship functions such as loyalty and emotional security; only with respect to intimacy were they rated lower. Finally, racial prejudice was most strongly related to the number of excluded classmates, while children with less biased attitudes had more cross-race interactive companions and more positive perceptions of their friends.
The purpose of this study is to compare the inter-ethnic and co-ethnic friend-ships of 390 junior high school students in multi-ethnic neighborhoods of Montreal and Toronto. Friendship dyads were identified on the basis of reciprocal nomination as close friends. The quality of the friendships was measured by questionnaires completed by both members of each friendship dyad. Co-ethnic friendships were characterized by greater closeness and more conflict than interethnic friendships. Co-ethnic friendships were more likely than inter-ethnic friendships to survive during a 6-month interval. Inter-ethnic friendships that survived after 6 months tended to increase in conflict. Regardless of sex composition, friendships characterized by conflict and lacking in overall positive quality were more likely than others to dissolve later in the school year. Male friends who enjoyed competing with each other in nonhostile ways tended to maintain their relationships.
Intergroup friendships have been linked to important outcomes such as reduced prejudice, increased empathy for outgroups, and lower intergroup anxiety. However, little is known about the factors facilitating such friendships. This longitudinal study therefore examined factors associated with the development of friendships between White and African American freshmen at a predominantly White university. African American (vs. White) and male (vs. female) students had more intergroup friendships at the end of freshman year. Friendships between African American and White freshmen were also associated with more direct and indirect intergroup contact during high school, less prejudice upon entering college, having an outgroup roommate (White or African American), having any roommate, and having more contact with outgroup members during the academic year.
Integrated schools may still be substantively segregated if friendships fall within race. Drawing on contact theory, this study tests whether school organization affects friendship segregation in a national sample of adolescent friendship networks. The results show that friendship segregation peaks in moderately heterogeneous schools but declines at the highest heterogeneity levels. As suggested by contact theory, in schools where extracurricular activities are integrated, grades tightly bound friendship, and races mix within tracks, friendship segregation is less pronounced. The generally positive relation between heterogeneity and friendship segregation suggests that integration strategies built on concentrating minorities in large schools may accentuate friendship segregation.
This chapter begins with a re-presentation of Allport's classic hypothesis and shows—with reference to recent cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys— laboratory experiments, and meta-analysis, that many of his original propositions have capably withstood the test of time. It examines Brewer and Miller's, and Gaertner and Dovidio's attempts to extend the contact hypothesis, in both of which categorization processes play a key role. This approach sets the stage for the model, first published in 1986 by Hewstone and Brown. In that model, emphasis was given on identifying the conditions that would allow the generalization of attitudes and behavior change beyond the specific context in which the contact occurs. The chapter discusses the developments of contact theory that occurred in the 1980s and reviews the empirical research instigated by the Hewstone–Brown model. It also reviews the progress to date and attempts a theoretical integration of these models in the light of the large volume of research that they have stimulated.
The present study used sociometric questionnaires to examine the relationship between interracial friendships, multicultural sensitivity, and social competence in fifth-grade children. Participants completed four questionnaires that provided information about who their friends were, friendship quality, racial and ethnic attitudes, and social competence. Results indicated that fifth-grade girls with high-quality interracial friendships indicated less minority rejection, more diverse social networks, and more sociability and leadership characteristics than their peers with no or low-quality interracial friendships. Similar results were not found for boys in the study. These findings have important educational and clinical implications.
Some literature exists on children's real-life interracial and interethnic friendships. However, a scarcity of research exists on children's perceptions of these relationships. This cross-sectional study investigated children's perceptions of interracial friendships by employing the Perceptions of Intergroup Friendships Questionnaire. A total of 108 children attending an ethnically and racially diverse, urban elementary school in a midsize northeastern city were interviewed employing the questionnaire. Results indicate that Kindergarten/1- and 4/5-graders differ significantly in their perceptions of intergroup friendships. In addition, African American children demonstrated more positive perceptions of intergroup friendships than did European American children.
The aim of this study was to examine the antecedents of cross-racial/ethnic friendships and same-racial/ethnic friendships. The sample consisted of 444 (161 African American, 108 European American, 100 Asian American, and 75 Latino) children who were in the fourth grade from 39 classrooms in 10 public elementary schools. Results of Mixed Linear Models demonstrated that social preference was associated with relative increases in same-racial/ethnic friendships; and leadership skills and the inhibition of relational aggression were related to relative increases in cross-racial/ethnic friendships. Further, social preference weakened and leadership skills reinforced the stability of cross-racial/ethnic friendships. Developmental processes, involving social preference, social behavior, classroom diversity, and diverse friendships were discussed.
Developmental theory suggests that a well-developed ethnic identity serves as a secure position which allows people to be more open and accepting to people from other ethnic groups. To examine this prediction, two studies were carried out. In Study 1, 713 college freshmen from four ethnic groups were surveyed regarding positive attitudes toward other groups and were assigned to ethnic identity statuses on the basis of scores on the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (Phinney, 1992). The results showed that Asian American and Latino students with an achieved ethnic identity reported significantly more positive attitudes toward other groups than did those in ethnic identity diffusion. Study 2 used qualitative methods with 124 adolescents from five ethnic groups. Ethnic identity and intergroup attitudes were assessed with open-ended questions regarding views of one's own ethnicity and experiences with other ethnic groups. Results showed that ethnic identity achieved adolescents, compared to diffuse adolescents, gave responses indicating greater awareness and understanding of intergroup relations. Overall, the results provide evidence that a secure ethnic identity is associated with positive intergroup attitudes and mature intercultural thinking.
How will racial divisions in student friendship networks change as U.S. schools incorporate a growing Asian and Hispanic population? Drawing on theories of race in assimilation processes and the effects of relative group size on intergroup relations, several hypotheses are developed to address this question. These hypotheses are tested using data on friendships among students in grades 7 to 12 from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Key findings are that (1) cross-race friendships including Asian and Hispanic students are more common than those between white and black students, but race and Hispanic background have significant influences on student friendships that persist over immigrant generations; (2) black or white racial identifications are strongly associated with the friendship choices of Hispanic students; (3) cross-race friendships increase with school racial diversity; and (4) own-group friend selection intensifies for students in small racial minorities in a school. The results support theories of racially segmented patterns of assimilation in primary group relations and suggest that students in small racial minorities seek to maintain a friendship network including several own-race friends. Implications are discussed.
This article explores the processes involved in the creation and expression of an ethnic identity for minority groups. It uses nationally representative quantitative data from the British Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities to describe the components that make up ethnic identity for ethnic minority people in the UK and to explore how these components are patterned within and between ethnic groups. Five underlying dimensions of ethnic identity were identified using factor analysis: two related to self description, a traditional identity, participating in ‘community’, and being a member of a racialized group. There was considerable similarity, but also some difference, in these dimensions across the ethnic groups included. The article concludes that the structure of ethnic identity is similar across ethnic minority groups in Britain, but that there is some diversity of identity within ethnic groups; perhaps as a consequence of how the factors that structure ethnic identity vary across demographic groups.
Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of youth in 7th to 12th grades, this study examines how racial and ethnic identification overlap among Hispanic adolescents (N = 6,399). The study examines the choices of friends to evaluate the proximity of race and ethnic identifiers among Hispanics. The result show evidence that ethnicity and race are distinct stratifiers as evidenced by their friendship choices, but that ethnicity is more significant than race in determining the choice of friends of Hispanics. Racial identification of Hispanics is closely associated with choosing a friend of the same race, whether or not that person is Hispanic. Finally, when Hispanics interact with non-Hispanics, racial identity becomes another determinant of friendships.
The present study examines the ethnic heterogeneity of children's social networks and cross-ethnic friendships as a function of gender, age, and time in an ethnically diverse school. Subjects were 350 children in first through sixth grades. Mutual peer nominations of 350 children yielded 956 reciprocal dyads and 88 social network groups. Girls had larger and more ethnically diverse social networks than boys. Girls were more likely to belong to a social network group and less likely than boys to be isolates as the school year progressed. At roughly fifth and sixth grade, girls had more reciprocal friends than boys, and at roughly third and fourth grade, girls were more likely than boys to have cross-ethnic friends. With regard to friendship stability, same-ethnic/same-gender (girl) dyads were most stable and cross-ethnic/mixed-gender (boy-girl) dyads were least stable.
Similarity breeds connection. This principle - the homophily principle - structures network ties of every type, including marriage, friendship, work, advice, support, information transfer, exchange, comembership, and other types of relationship. The result is that people's personal networks are homogeneous with regard to many sociodemographic, behavioral, and intrapersonal characteristics. Homophily limits people's social worlds in a way that has powerful implications for the information they receive, the attitudes they form, and the interactions they experience. Homophily in race and ethnicity creates the strongest divides in our personal environments, with age, religion, education, occupation, and gender following in roughly that order. Geographic propinquity, families, organizations, and isomorphic positions in social systems all create contexts in which homophilous relations form. Ties between nonsimilar individuals also dissolve at a higher rate, which sets the stage for the formation of niches (localized positions) within social space. We argue for more research on: (a) the basic ecological processes that link organizations, associations, cultural communities, social movements, and many other social forms; (b) the impact of multiplex ties on the patterns of homophily; and (c) the dynamics of network change over time through which networks and other social entities co-evolve.
This study examined whether ethnic segregation is concurrently (fall) and prospectively (fall to spring) associated with social status among 4th- and 5th-grade African American and European American children (n = 713, ages 9-11 years). Segregation measures were (a) same-ethnicity favoritism in peer affiliations and (b) cross-ethnicity dislike. Social status measures were same- and cross-ethnicity peer nominations of acceptance, rejection, and cool. Among African Americans, fall segregation predicted declines in cross-ethnicity (European American) acceptance and same-ethnicity rejection, and increases in same-ethnicity acceptance and perceived coolness. For European American children, fall segregation predicted declines in cross-ethnicity (African American) acceptance and increases in cross-ethnicity rejection. Results indicate that segregation induces asymmetric changes in social status for African American and European American children.
A set of three sociometric questions were presented to a total sample of 3,953 white, West Indian and Asian children between the ages of seven and eleven years to ascertain the pattern of inter‐ethnic friendship in primary schools. The schools were equally divided, between the north and south of England and between schools with 50 per cent, or more, minority group children and those with 20 per cent, or less. Although there were some variation