Undergraduates Who Feel Privileged and Set Global Priorities are Prepared to Build Cross-Racial Friendships

• In Event: Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Topic -Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Abstract

College students from underrepresented groups have been known to experience high levels of social isolation and self-doubt. These effects of racism have been buffered when schools organized cultural events, leadership programs, and community service opportunities to improve students’ sense of belonging (Glass & Westmont, 2014). Such programs have fostered intra- and interracial interaction and such interaction seems to foster improvements in academic skills, self-concept, leadership and teamwork, social agency, and civic development. Ironically, these academic benefits disappeared in a longitudinal study comparing casual forms of cross-racial interaction with the formation of cross-racial friendships (Bowman & Park, 2015). Even so, college students’ who had cross-racial friendships were more likely to report increases in intellectual self-confidence and educational aspirations, especially among ethnic minorities (Antonio, 2004). Students who had racially diverse friendships were also more likely to report positive ethnic attitudes at the end of college, reducing their own and others’ intergroup biases (Levin et al., 2003). These findings led us to ask what intentions are most likely to facilitate cross-racial friendships among students who attend an ethnically diverse university.

Starting with an awareness that students attending a racially diverse university have ample opportunities to construct cross-racial friendships, we wondered why only some have begun to do so. Comparing students’ sense of privilege within an ethnically diverse university and in society as well as their long-term local and global life goals, we determined which combination of desires best predicted who had cross-racial friendships.

Participants. Undergraduates (n=118) from an introductory psychology course reported their friendship choices as part of a larger study on how they prioritize personal, civic, and civil intentions. Of these, 49 volunteers (19 males) reported no cross-racial friendships and 69 (23 males) reported at least one cross-racial friendship. Volunteers identified themselves as Arab/Arab American (n=6); Asian/Asian American (n=46, Southeast Asian, n=8); Black/African American (n=7); Latino/Hispanic (n=39); Anglo/European American (n=13); or Biracial (n=7).

Instruments. Students’ life goals focused on local concerns such as building a strong family, friendship network, and standing in their local community (α=.87; 16 items) and global life goals related to promoting human rights and welfare (α=.89; 17 items). Measures of privilege focused on students’ sense of privilege within the university (α=.72; 7 items) and in society (α=.75; 7 items). The percent of cross-racial friendships was calculated after individuals identified 5 of their close friends and classified the network by building gender, race/ethnicity, and academic interest distributions.

Findings and Discussion. When volunteers’ sense of privilege and life goals were used to predict the percent of cross-racial friendships in their 5-person network, both sets of desires contributed to the intentional model with an adjusted R-square =.11. Individuals who reported a high degree of local privilege and a low sense of societal privilege as well as strong global life goals and weak local life goals were most likely to form cross-racial friendships. This combination of values suggests that individuals who see universities as a means of supporting global priorities are most likely to take advantage of opportunities to form cross-racial networks.

Authors

• Theresa A Thorkildsen, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Matin Firas, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nell Arendt, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ryan Zimny-Schmitt, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ailsa Bai, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author