TY - JOUR
T1 - INNOVATIONS IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
AU - Carey, Rebecca M.
AU - Stephens, Nicole M.
AU - Townsend, Sarah S.M.
AU - Hamedani, Mar Yam G.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 American Psychological Association
PY - 2022/3/7
Y1 - 2022/3/7
N2 - More than ever before, institutions of higher education are seeking to increase the racial and social class diversity of their student bodies. Given these efforts, the present research asks two broad questions. First, how frequently do intergroup interactions occur across the lines of race and social class, and to what extent do these interactions reflect the diversity of a setting? Second, when cross-race and cross-class interactions occur, how do individuals experience them and what consequences do they have for their outcomes in these settings? Leveraging a longitudinal design and daily diary methods, we conducted the first large study (Ninteractions = 11,460) which tracks the frequency, experience, and consequences of meaningful cross-race and cross-class interactions. We found that students reported far fewer cross-race and cross-class interactions than would occur at chance given the racial and social class diversity of their student bodies. Furthermore, students experienced less satisfaction and perspective-taking in cross-race and cross-class interactions compared to same-race and same-class interactions, respectively. Nevertheless, these cross-group interactions predicted better academic performance for underrepresented racial minority students and students from working and lower class backgrounds. They did so, in part, by increasing students’ feelings of inclusion (i.e., increased belonging and reduced social identity threat). Together, these findings suggest that the mere presence of diversity is not enough to foster meaningful intergroup interactions. Furthermore, fostering intergroup interactions may be one important pathway toward reducing racial and social class disparities.
AB - More than ever before, institutions of higher education are seeking to increase the racial and social class diversity of their student bodies. Given these efforts, the present research asks two broad questions. First, how frequently do intergroup interactions occur across the lines of race and social class, and to what extent do these interactions reflect the diversity of a setting? Second, when cross-race and cross-class interactions occur, how do individuals experience them and what consequences do they have for their outcomes in these settings? Leveraging a longitudinal design and daily diary methods, we conducted the first large study (Ninteractions = 11,460) which tracks the frequency, experience, and consequences of meaningful cross-race and cross-class interactions. We found that students reported far fewer cross-race and cross-class interactions than would occur at chance given the racial and social class diversity of their student bodies. Furthermore, students experienced less satisfaction and perspective-taking in cross-race and cross-class interactions compared to same-race and same-class interactions, respectively. Nevertheless, these cross-group interactions predicted better academic performance for underrepresented racial minority students and students from working and lower class backgrounds. They did so, in part, by increasing students’ feelings of inclusion (i.e., increased belonging and reduced social identity threat). Together, these findings suggest that the mere presence of diversity is not enough to foster meaningful intergroup interactions. Furthermore, fostering intergroup interactions may be one important pathway toward reducing racial and social class disparities.
KW - Academic outcomes
KW - Diversity
KW - Intergroup interactions
KW - Race
KW - Social class
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129300024&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85129300024&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000302
DO - https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000302
M3 - Article
C2 - 35254855
SN - 0022-3514
VL - 123
SP - 889
EP - 908
JO - Journal of personality and social psychology
JF - Journal of personality and social psychology
IS - 5
ER -