Intergroup Prejudice in Multiethnic Settings

Abstract

This article examines how out‐group perceptions among Asian Americans, blacks, Latinos, and whites vary with the racial composition of their surroundings. Previous research on the contextual determinants of racial attitudes offers mixed expectations: some studies indicate that larger percentages of proximate out‐groups generate intergroup conflict and hostility while others suggest that such environments promote interracial contact and understanding. As most of this research has been directed at black‐white relations, the applicability of these theories to a multiethnic context remains unclear. Using data that merge the 1992–1994 Multi‐City Study of Urban Inequality and 1990 Census, we find that in neighborhood contexts, interethnic propinquity corresponds with lower levels of out‐group prejudice and competition, although intergroup hostility is higher in metropolitan areas with greater minority populations. Further tests suggest that these results do not occur from individual self‐selection; rather ethnic spatial and social isolation bolster negative out‐group perceptions. These findings suggest the value of residential integration for alleviating ethnic antagonism.