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Intergroup Relationships - Attitudes and Behaviors: A Data-Driven Learning Guide
Goal & Concept
Goal
The goal of this exercise is to learn more about intergroup relationships and to explore the role intergroup friendships play in perceptions of out-group members. Crosstabulation will be used.
Concept
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people and groups interact, associate, influence, and perceive one another. One area of social psychology, intergroup relations, examines the ways in which individuals from different groups (e.g. racial, ethnic, religious, etc.) think about, relate to, and influence one another. This learning guide will explore one type of intergroup relationships: racial and ethnic ties.
Previous research suggests that people who have friends from racial, ethnic, and cultural groups other than their own are less likely to have negative perceptions of out-group members. Learning about other racial/ethnic groups through these intergroup friendships can lead to a reassessment of attitudes towards other groups. To the extent that friends shape attitudes, intergroup friendships may also shape opinions about out-groups.
Examples of research questions about intergroup friendships include:
- Are people with intergroup friends more tolerant than those without such friends?
- Are members of some racial/ethnic groups more likely than others to have friends from other groups?
- Do intergroup friendships lead to decreased prejudice towards members of certain religious groups?
- Are younger individuals more likely than older individuals to have out-group friends?
- Are intergroup friendships and relationships more common in some regions of the United States than in others?
- What do respondents perceive as the benefits of intergroup friendships?
- What is the relationship between intergroup friendships and opinions about immigration?
CITATION: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. Intergroup Relationships - Attitudes and Behaviors: A Data-Driven Learning Guide. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 02-04-2011. Doi:10.3886/IntergroupRels
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