Abstract
Cross-group friendship is an important element in regard to reducing prejudice and increasing positive interracial interactions among young adults. In order to facilitate the formation of cross-group friendships, organized activity participation (e.g., community service and school-based extracurricular activities) may provide an environment that supports positive cross-cultural interactions and contacts. The sample used for this study consisted of 601 college students. We tested whether participation in an organized activity contributes to the formation of cross-group friendships. The results of this study indicate that community service and school-based extracurricular activities significantly contribute to the formation of cross-group friendships among young adults. The findings also suggest that a variety of organized activities should be developed and implemented to facilitate cross-group friendships. We also discuss the practical implications of these findings.
Highlights
Cross-group friendship is an important element in regard to reducing prejudice and increasing positive interracial interactions among young adults
We aim to examine whether community service involvement would be associated with cross-group friendships as no previous research has explored the relationships between two constructs
The results of this study indicate that community service and extracurricular activities significantly contributed to the creation of cross-group friendships
Summary
Cross-group friendship is an important element in regard to reducing prejudice and increasing positive interracial interactions among young adults. The results of this study indicate that community service and school-based extracurricular activities significantly contribute to the formation of cross-group friendships among young adults. In light of the dramatic influx of immigrants and the diversity within the population in the United States (U.S.), high schools and colleges have become culturally and ethnically diverse and, as such, interracial contact and encounters are common on such campuses (Fischer, 2008; Raskoff & Sundeen, 2001) Such an environment of cultural and ethnic diversity may promote interracial interactions and provide an opportunity in which individuals develop a sense of friendships with others from different cultural and/or ethnic backgrounds. Participation in organized activities may provide an important context through which young adults foster positive interracial interactions and contacts, which facilitate cross-group friendships. Damico and Scott conducted a study of 282 college students that examined whether interracial interactions through an extracurricular activity in high school predicted
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