Many societies are so diverse, sociologists now prefer the term “super-diverse” depending on what 12+ factors?
○ Ethnicity
○ Immigration status
○ SES
○ Gender
○ Sexual orientation
○ Age
○ Ability
○ Political orientation
○ Religion
○ Geographical distribution
Origins of Segregation (4)
○ This was a mild preference for similar “others”
○ This tendency is strong – homophily effect
○ Race and ethnicity creating the strongest divides
○ Makes social networks homogenous: sociodemographic, behavioural, intrapersonal
Why is segregation the enemy of contact?
Stops contact entirely from happening in the first place
Segregation doesn’t cause conflict directly - WHY & WHAT DOES IT DO INSTEAD? (2)
- BUT fosters mutual ignorance (stops contact from happening, stops challenging previously held stereotypes) and suspicion
- CAUSES suspicion and mistrust
SEGREGATION reifies that the outgroup is the violent group (PEACE WALLS)
Peace wall in Ireland:
- Protestants think it’s there because Catholics are violent
- Catholics think it’s there because protestants are violent
Social mobility is reduced by (4 things)
1: residential segregation
2: income inequality
3: poorer schooling
4: lower family stability
Positives of Segregation? (COMMUNITY)
- can provide a safe space for (especially) disadvantaged group members
- Being surrounded by your own community members can lead to greater health outcomes, lessened stress
- Further from peace walls, more community felt
Diversity DOES NOT equal…
CONTACT - It’s the enemy of contact
HOWEVER, Diversity DOES provide…
…opportunities/chances for contact
- Positive correlation/relationship between opportunity for contact and contact uptake
CONTACT IS GOOD! - WHY?
○ Works for the racist
○ Works for the prejudiced
○ Works for disadvantaged groups
If contact is good, what’s the issue?
people simply don’t want to come into contact with each other
Why do people self-segregate? (2 reasons)
1 What they want to achieve during contact:
- Majority: concerns about seeming prejudice
- Minority: becoming targets of prejudice
- Majority: race issues, language barriers
- Minority: differences in socioeconomic status, culture, and ingroup distancing
What do we know about the antecedents of intergroup contact? (what predicts contact avoidance/approach)
- Negative attitudes & stereotypes
- Ingroup identification and threat
The more negative attitudes, the more negative stereotypes, less likely to come into contact
More identification with the ingroup = less identification with the outgroup - Feelings of anxiety, fear, and insecurity
Reasons for contact avoidance (EXT) - 7
- intergroup anxiety
- collective threat
- stereotypical behaviour
- RWA
- SDO
- political conservatism
- age
Contact Approach
- the big 5 (more extroverted, open to new experiences, agreeable…)
- education
- prior contact
- indirect contact
- openness to challenges of diversity
- diversity beliefs
- contact self-efficacy
