Beyond Black and White: The Present and Future of Multiracial Friendship Segregation

By Lincoln Quillian, Mary E. Campbell. American Sociological Review, 2003

446 citations recorded by the source corpus.

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.

Subfields: Education, Social Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/3c8f05eda5ba607045ba2b90c2e82a0ad1ffb6f0

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Citations in the corpus

Ethnic Diversity and Inclusive School Environments (2019, background): “…research suggests that greater ethnic diversity within school contexts is related to a greater likelihood of cross-ethnic friendships across preschool, elementary, middle, and high-school-age students (Benner & Crosnoe, 2011; Hallinan & Teixeira, 1987; Moody, 2001; Quillian & Campbell, 2003).”
Bridging the Ethnic Divide: Student and School Characteristics in African American, Asian-Descent, Latino, and White Adolescents' Cross-Ethnic Friend Nominations (2005, unknown): “Ogbu theorized further that ethnic groups without this history of oppression (voluntary minority groups) would more willingly engage in schooling processes, would hold more favorable and trusting views of Whites, and, be more willing to forge friendships with White peers, perhaps using friendship as”
When Does Race Matter? Race, Sex, and Dating at an Elite University (2010, background): “…2000; Moody, 2001), but (after adjusting for group size and opportunities for interracial contact) the propensity to form interracial friendships differs by race, and Black students demonstrate a particularly strong tendency for racially homophilous friendship choices (Quillian & Campbell, 2003).”
Promoting Social Inclusion in Educational Settings: Challenges and Opportunities (2019, background): “Indeed, ingroup friend selection is intensified for racial minorities when they are small in number (Quillian & Campbell, 2003).”
How Network Externalities Can Exacerbate Intergroup Inequality1 (2011, unknown): “0002-9602/2011/11606-0004$10.00”
Cross-ethnic friendships: Are they really rare? Evidence from secondary schools around London (2014, unknown): “A great deal of previous empirical work found a direct positive link between the number of potential cross-ethnic friends in schools or classrooms and the frequency of cross-ethnic friendships (Damico & Sparks, 1986; Hallinan & Teixeira, 1987, Howes & Wu, 1990; Quillian & Campbell, 2003).”
The relationship between outgroup size and anti-outgroup attitudes: A theoretical synthesis and empirical test of group threat- and intergroup contact theory (2010, result): “3 Quite unexpectedly, our review of the research literature yielded that prior studies largely neglected to examine individual-level sources of intergroup contact (see Quillian and Campbell, 2003 for a related observation).”
Religion and Volunteering in Context (2012, background): “For example, studies have found that people in racially diverse communities or organizations show a stronger preference for their own racial groups in friendship choices than do individuals in less diverse environments (e.g., Moody 2001; Putnam 2007; Quillian and Campbell 2003).”
Positive immigrant youth adaptation in context: Developmental, acculturation, and social psychological perspectives (2012, background): “Consistent with this phenomenon, termed “friendship homophily”, immigrant youth tend to choose their friends from within their own ethnic group (Quillian & Campbell, 2003; Strohmeier & Spiel, 2003; Titzmann & Silbereisen, 2009; see also chapter by Spiel et al., this volume).”