The value of diversity

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on October 10, 2006 - 7:15pm.
on

...as opposed to inclusion, racial justice or integration. Seventeen page pdf on the other side of the link.


The effect of university roommate contact on ethnic attitudes and behavior
Colette Van Laara, Shana Levin, Stacey Sinclair, Jim Sidanius

Abstract
This study examined the effect of living with White, Asian American, Latino, or African American roommates on affective, cognitive, and behavioral indicators of prejudice among university students. We used a five-wave panel study with approximately 2000 students to examine the effect of roommate contact in two ways: First, through a field experimental test by examining prejudice as a function of living with randomly assigned roommates during the first year of university. Second, net of pre-existing attitudes, we examined the effects of voluntary roommate contact during the second and third year of university on fourth year prejudice. Consistent with contact theory, both randomly assigned and voluntary contact decreased prejudice. Also, there was generalization to other outgroups, particularly from Black roommates to Latinos, and vice versa. Finally, an interesting exception was found for contact with Asian American roommates, whether randomly assigned or voluntary, which tended to make attitudes towards other groups more negative. Potential explanations for this result are discussed.
Keywords: Intergroup contact; Ethnic attitudes and behaviors; Contact theory; Prejudice; University students; Longitudinal study; Roommates

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