Ethnic, Religious and Economic Diversity in Dutch Neighbourhoods: Explaining Quality of Contact with Neighbours, Trust in the Neighbourhood and Inter-Ethnic Trust

Abstract

Several studies conclude that ethnic diversity tends to reduce social capital. There may, however, be other forms of diversity that also affect social capital, and their inclusion might make the negative effect of ethnic diversity spurious. Besides ethnic diversity, we identify economic and religious diversity, as well as language proficiency in the neighbourhood. This study explores data from the Netherlands showing how these four dimensions of diversity in the neighbourhood affect the quality of contact with neighbours, trust in the neighbourhood and inter-ethnic trust for immigrant and native residents. We find that ethnic diversity in the neighbourhood still lowers the quality of contact with neighbours. For natives, ethnic diversity is positively associated with inter-ethnic trust, whereas for immigrants there is no effect. Furthermore, for natives, religious diversity negatively affects the quality of contact with neighbours and inter-ethnic trust, whereas for immigrants this effect is positive. Economic diversity positively impacts on trust in the neighbourhood and inter-ethnic trust. We do not find an effect of language proficiency. We conclude that, besides ethnic diversity, other forms of diversity in the neighbourhood do also affect trust. Furthermore, diversity can undermine, but also build, various aspects of trust. Last, diversity in the neighbourhood does not mean the same for immigrant and native residents.