Cross-Ethnic Friendships, School Belonging, and the Moderating Roles of Ethnicity and School Ethnic Representation

• In Event: Youth Engagement and Belonging

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between cross-ethnic friendships and school belonging, and the moderating roles of ethnicity and participants’ ethnic representation at the school level. Participants include 1,387 sixth graders selected from a larger longitudinal study. Measures for the current analysis include students’ ethnic numerical minority/majority status, self-reported friendship nominations, school belonging, and ethnicity. Results from the multiple regression model show a significant three-way interaction between proportion of cross-ethnic friendships, numerical minority/majority status, and ethnicity. For both African American and White students, but not Asian and Latino, more cross-ethnic friendships are associated with greater school belonging for students in the minority, and less school belonging for students in the majority. Explanations for these dissimilar results are provided.

Authors

• Hannah Levy, University of California - Los Angeles

• Sandra Graham, University of California - Los Angeles