Does Campus Diversity Promote Friendship Diversity? A Look at Interracial Friendships in College*

Objectives. One of the hopes of having diverse campus environments is that the daily interaction with students from different backgrounds will promote interracial understanding and friendship. However, it is not clear to what extent interactions and friendships are multiracial. This article examines the impact of college characteristics, social distance felt toward other groups, and precollege friendship diversity on the formation of interracial friendships in the first year of college. Methods. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, I examine how college characteristics, social distance felt toward other groups, and precollege friendship diversity affects the formation of interracial friendships in the first year of college. Results. The results show that while precollege experiences and initial attitudes do have an impact on the formation of interracial friendship in college, campus racial/ethnic diversity is also important in predicting friendship heterogeneity. Minorities have higher predicted friendship diversity than whites, but this difference nearly disappears in the most diverse schools due to the interactive effects of school diversity on friendship diversity for white students. Conclusions. This research provides evidence of the social benefits of assembling a diverse student body, particularly for white students, and can add to the debate over the continuation of affirmative action policies.     

家庭背景、班级情境与青少年的跨群体交往

通过分析“中国教育追踪调查”（CEPS）数据,本文考察了家庭背景和班级情境对流动儿童和本地儿童跨群体交往的影响。研究发现,家庭社会经济地位对流动儿童的跨群体交往具有积极作用,但本地儿童的家庭社会经济地位越高,跨群体朋友数量反而越少。总体而言,班级异质性与学生的跨群体朋友数量之间呈倒“U”型关系,但随着班级异质性的上升,流动儿童的跨群体朋友数量呈下降趋势,本地儿童则正好相反。所属群体跨群体社会交往越多,学生拥有的跨群体朋友数量越多,并且这种积极作用对本地儿童的影响更大。而外部群体的封闭性越强,学生跨群体朋友数量就越少,并且这种消极作用对流动儿童更强。最后还发现,上述班级情境影响效应的群体性差异主要存在于本地儿童数量占优势的班级。     

Bridging the Researcher-Practitioner Divide in Intergroup Relations

Editors' introduction: Walter Stephan's interest in intergroup relations grew from his early involvement in intercultural relations. He spent substantial time in Latin America as well as Vietnam during his college years. These experiences influenced his choice to study social psychology at the University of Minnesota. His first foray into intergroup relations came with his move to Austin, Texas, in 1971. A Court mandate ordered schools to be desegregated, and Stephan examined the effects of school desegregation there on students' self-esteem and intergroup attitudes. His field research on the effects of desegregation as well as classroom interventions to improve intergroup relations was complemented by his laboratory research on intergroup biases, intergroup threat, intergroup anxiety, and empathy. Stephan brings this lifetime of involvement in both basic and applied research, and deep concern for effective practice and humanistic philosophy, to his commentary. He opens the commentaries with an elucidation of the difficulties in, and benefits of, the central thrust of this volume: the researcher-practitioner collaboration. He paints portraits of practitioners, researchers, and practitioner-researchers, and classifies articles in this issue accordingly. He notes the difficulties among the various parties interested in improving intergroup relations, spanning from simple lack of knowledge to lack of contact to lack of meaningful ways to interact. However, potential benefits of collaboration are abundant for all parties, and Stephan proposes a number of ways in which such partnerships could be actualized.     

Promoting research on research integrity in Canada

Research on research integrity is an important element in building a strong national research integrity framework. There is a lack of empirical evidence and conceptual research on research integrity in Canada. To further strengthen and develop our system of research integrity, we believe that greater support is needed to promote research on research integrity. Research on research integrity is imperative in order to gain a richer understanding of the diversity of responsible conduct of research norms, practices, education and policies from a Canadian perspective. The knowledge gained would help in the development of an evidenced-based and responsive Canadian system of research integrity.     

Diversity Training and Intergroup Contact: A Call to Action Research

Diversity training is a type of prejudice reduction and social inclusion intervention in need of "action research"—an integration of research and theory with practice ( Lewin, 1946 ). Hundreds of workplaces and schools use some form of diversity training, but most interventions are not grounded in theory and there is little evidence of program impact. A recent study of a school diversity training program illustrates how action research can address theoretical issues using experimental methods and unobtrusive outcome measures. For future research, the literature on intergroup contact ( Pettigrew, 1998 ) can provide theoretical guidance while testing and refining its principles in the application and investigation of diversity training. Action research will benefit diversity training and the broader theoretical and applied project of prejudice reduction and the promotion of social inclusion.     

Valuing Diversity and Interest in Intergroup Contact

The present research examines ways in which valuing diversity relates to interest in intergroup contact among members of minority and majority status groups. Using open-ended responses, Study 1 reveals that ethnic minority group members are less likely to perceive that diversity is valued than ethnic majority group members, yet those who perceive that diversity is valued tend to express greater interest in intergroup contact. Surveys of Black and White respondents (Study 2) and ethnic minority and majority respondents (Study 3) indicate similar trends. Moreover, these studies consistently show that valuing diversity uniquely predicts interest in intergroup contact among majority group members, whereas perceiving that outgroup members value diversity predicts interest in intergroup contact among minority group members. Implications of these findings for understanding the role of diversity in intergroup relations, and reformulating aspects of intergroup contact theory, are discussed.     

"Not prepared to care" and "raising the bar": case examples of building university-community partnerships in gerontological social work research

This paper examines university-community partnerships in gerontological social work research. Utilizing a case study approach, the process of collaboration is explored within the context of a two-phase research project conducted jointly by agency social workers, social work students and a social work faculty member. The benefits and challenges of the university-community research partnership are discussed along with the implications for gerontological social work research, education and practice.     

Are interracial daters more supportive of same-sex unions?

Researchers have theorized a relationship between interracial and same-sex unions, but little empirical work has been done to substantiate this connection. This study examines whether individuals who engage in interracial dating are more likely to express support for both same-sex marriage and civil unions, net of sociodemographic and ideological controls. Data are taken from Wave 2 of the Baylor Religion Survey. Ordered logit regression models are estimated in order to examine the relationship between interracial romance and support for same-sex unions, net of various controls such as attribution of sexual orientation, political ideology, and religious conservatism. Analyses reveal that individuals who have engaged in interracial romance are more supportive of same-sex marriage and civil unions. Further research should be conducted to provide a more robust causal understanding of the link between interracial dating and one's attitudes toward same-sex unions.     

Improving Race Relations in Schools: From Theory and Research to Practice

Editors' introduction: James A. Banks was born in the racially segregated Arkansas delta the year that Pearl Harbor was attacked and the United States entered World War II. The justifications of war as a means to promote democracy abroad contradicted with the lived realities at home. His childhood and early teenage years were marked by private ruminations about the racial inequalities he confronted in the public—at schools, churches, water fountains, and more. The stereotypical racist images in textbooks were contrasted with what and who he knew of people in his family and community. These experiences and his early contemplations about "why were the slaves represented as being happy in textbooks?" ( Banks, 2006 , p. 2), set the stage for Banks' indelible legacy to intergroup relations. He is widely renowned as the "father of multicultural education" in the United States. In his commentary, Banks draws on this long-standing, unwavering, and deep commitment to education, equity, and justice. He explores ways in which theory and basic research can inform programs in schools to improve race relations. He shows how the articles contained in this issue, more than the majority of the existing research, grapple with the complexity of intergroup interventions. Banks stresses that interventions must take into account the diversity of participants or students; what may work for one group, say the majority group, may not necessarily work for minority groups.     

Television and Prejudice Reduction: When Does Television as a Vicarious Experience Make a Difference?

Televised role portrayals and interracial interactions, as sources of vicarious experience, contribute to the development of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination among children. The first section of this article reviews the amount and nature of racial/ethnic content on television, including limited portrayals of racial/ethnic groups and of interracial/ethnic interaction. The second section focuses on theoretical models that help explain television's role in the development, maintenance, and modification of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. The third section addresses research on the effects of television in altering stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination, with particular attention given to media intervention programs specifically designed to address these issues (Sesame Street and Different and the Same). This article concludes with a discussion of suggestions for future research.     

Learning about Difference, Learning with Others, Learning to Transgress

Emerging work in intergroup contact has vitalized a focus on processes affecting the impact of interventions on outcomes. We theorized that intergroup learning—learning about other groups, educating others about one's own groups, intention to bridge intergroup differences, and reflecting on one's own group—mediates the effect of a combined enlightenment-encounter curricular intervention on assessments of importance and confidence in taking action to reduce prejudice and promote diversity. Results from a pretest/posttest design with a diverse group of undergraduate social welfare majors (n = 175) show (a) increased motivation for intergroup learning, and importance of taking action, and confidence in doing so, and (b) intergroup learning partially or fully mediates the impact of enlightenment and/or encounter on taking action .     

Looking Back as We Look Ahead: Integrating Research, Theory, and Practice on Intergroup Relations

This article looks back at the origins of intergroup relations in social psychology just over 50 years ago. Pioneers in the field—Robin Williams, Gordon Allport, and Kurt Lewin—were all deeply concerned with integrating social science and social action. We seek to re-center this mutuality of research and practice, and to expand the focus of intergroup relations from prejudice reduction to social inclusion. The articles in this issue document cutting-edge research, theory, and practice, and make substantive contributions to the future of intergroup relations. A unique feature of this issue is a set of commentaries by prominent scholars and practitioners in the fields of intergroup relations and education. Walter Stephan, James Banks, Thomas Pettigrew, and Patricia Gurin each reflect on the collection of articles through the lens of their own personal and professional biographies to help define the intersections of research, theory, and practice on intergroup relations.     

Racial composition of social settings,interracial friendship,and whites’ attitudes toward interracial marriage

This study examines the effect that the racial composition of neighborhoods, workplaces, congregations, and friendships has on whites’ attitudes toward interracial marriage with blacks, Latinos, and Asians. Utilizing survey data drawn from a national probability sample, ordered logit regression models are estimated in order to (1) determine the effect of the racial composition of neighborhoods, workplaces, and congregations on white intermarriage attitudes, net of sociodemographic and ideological controls and (2) test for a mediating effect of interracial friendship. Greater presence of blacks, Latinos, or Asians in neighborhoods and congregations of whites predicts favorable attitudes among whites toward interracial marriage with each respective racial group. A higher proportion of Latinos in the workplace also predicts support for racial exogamy with Latinos. Many of these effects, however, are reduced when interracial friendship is included in models, suggesting that the effect of interracial contact on intermarriage attitudes is mediated by whether or not whites develop interracial friendships within settings of cross-race interaction.     

Studying Hate Crime with the Internet: What Makes Racists Advocate Racial Violence?

We conducted semistructured interviews with 38 participants in White racist Internet chat rooms, examining the extent to which people would, in this unique environment, advocate interracial violence in response to purported economic and cultural threats. Capitalizing on the anonymity and candor of chat room interactions, this study provides an unusual perspective on extremist attitudes. We experimentally manipulated the nature and proximity of the threats. Qualitative and quantitative analyses indicate that the respondents were most threatened by interracial marriage and, to a lesser extent, Blacks moving into White neighborhoods. In contrast, job competition posed by Blacks evoked very little advocacy of violence. The study affords an assessment of the advantages and limitations of Internet-based research with clandestine populations.     

Collective Psychological Empowerment as a Model of Social Change: Researching Crowds and Power

The issue of psychological empowerment in crowd events has important implications for both theory and practice. Theoretically, the issue throws light on both intergroup conflict and the nature and functions of social identity. Practically, empowerment in collective events can feed into societal change. The study of empowerment therefore tells us something about how the forces pressing for such change might succeed or fail. The present article first outlines some limitations in the conceptualization of both identity and empowerment in previous research on crowd events, before delineating the elaborated social identity model of crowds and power. We then describe recent empirical contributions to the field. These divide into two areas of research: (1) empowerment variables and (2) the dynamics of such empowerment. We finally suggest how psychological empowerment and social change are connected through crowd action. We conclude with some recommendations for practice following from the research described.     

Empathy-related Responding: Associations with Prosocial Behavior, Aggression, and Intergroup Relations

Empathy-related responding, including empathy, sympathy, and personal distress, has been implicated in conceptual models and theories about prosocial behavior and altruism, aggression and antisocial behavior, and intergroup relationships. Conceptual arguments and empirical findings related to each of these topics are reviewed. In general, there is evidence that empathy and/or sympathy are important correlates of, and likely contributors to, other-oriented prosocial behavior, the inhibition of aggression and antisocial behavior, and the quality of intergroup relationships. Applied implications of these findings, including preventative studies, are discussed, as are possible future directions.     

The Utility of Allport's Conditions of Intergroup Contact for Predicting Perceptions of Improved Racial Attitudes and Beliefs

We test the predictive power of perception as it relates to Allport's (1954/1979) classic articulation of the conditions of contact conducive to reducing intergroup prejudice and increasing tolerance. After summarizing theories of prejudice and models of prejudice reduction, as well as recently published reviews of evidence relating to the Contact Hypothesis, we present results of an evaluation of a prejudice reduction program that trains and places college student facilitators in middle and high school classrooms to lead discussions about race. We show that a composite of five classroom climate conditions that the Contact Hypothesis suggests are conducive to prejudice reduction predicts teachers' and college student facilitators' perceptions of change in three aspects of middle and high school student racial attitudes. Students' perceptions of the school interracial climate are modestly predictive of their changes in these three aspects of racial attitudes. However, teacher and facilitator estimates of student outcomes are uncorrelated with actual student outcomes. Implications of these results for prejudice reduction theory and practice are discussed.     

Modeling stereotypes and negative self‐stereotypes as a function of interactions among groups with power asymmetries

Stereotypes is one of the most researched topics in social psychology. Within this context, negative self‐stereotypes pose a particular challenge for theories. In the current work, we propose a model that suggests that negative self‐stereotypes can theoretically be accounted for by the need to communicate in a social system made up by groups with unequal power. Because our theory is dynamic, probabilistic, and interactionist, we use a computational simulation technique to show that the proposed model is able to reproduce the phenomenon of interest, to provide novel accounts of related phenomena, and to suggest novel empirical predictions. We describe our computational model, our variables' dynamic behavior and interactions, and link our analyses to the literature on stereotypes and self‐stereotypes, the stability of stereotypes (in particular, gender and racial stereotypes), the effects of power asymmetries, and the effects of intergroup contact.     

Coping With Interracial Stress in Ethnically Diverse Classrooms: How Important Are Allport's Contact Conditions?

This study examined desegregated classrooms with an emphasis on how students' perceptions of Allport's (1954) contact dimensions influence the frequency and effectiveness of their coping strategies for interracial stress, their self-esteem, and their self-reported academic performance. Fourth, fifth, and sixth graders from two ethnically diverse middle schools in Los Angeles, California, participated. Results indicated that students' perceptions of a more positive interracial classroom climate were associated with less frequent and more effective coping strategies, specifically as related to the frequency and effectiveness of positive/approach coping strategies. Positive classroom climate also was related to higher self-esteem and better academic performance. This research highlights the importance of the presence of contact criteria when desegregation is to be a positive experience both academically and socially and of the integration of coping strategies as a means of reducing interracial stress.     

Breaking Barriers, Crossing Borders, Building Bridges: Communication Processes in Intergroup Dialogues

Research in intergroup contact and intergroup education is increasingly focused on the psychological and pedagogical processes to explain the impact of interventions on desired outcomes. This emerging scholarship has enriched our understanding about what types of interventions are effective or not and how these interventions impact outcomes of prejudice reduction and social inclusion. In the present study, a new theoretical dimension of processes operating in intergroup contact and education is investigated: communication processes. Factor analyses of communication processes within an intergroup encounter, using data from a pretest/posttest design with a diverse group of students ( n = 211), revealed four factors: (1) appreciating difference, (2) engaging self, (3) critical self-reflection, and (4) alliance building. Furthermore, path analysis shows that these communication processes fully mediate the impact of intergroup dialogue on bridging differences. The communication processes illuminate a deeper understanding of what happens within the context of intergroup encounters and provide a link between pedagogical strategies and psychological processes.