The nature of negative contact: Studies on interethnic relations in western societies

Abstract

There has been somewhat of a mismatch between, on the one hand, the implicit concern in much of the public and political discussions that ethnic diversity breeds discord and conflict, and, on the other hand, the rather lopsided focus in social scientific research on positive interethnic experiences. At its core, this dissertation is an attempt to remedy this incongruity by focussing on negative experiences, in particular between people from different ethnic or racial backgrounds. Throughout this dissertation, different forms of negative experiences are studied, including criminal offences, harsh feedback, nuisances between neighbours, and aggression amongst high school pupils. By using state-of-the-art statistical methods, Kros analyses largescale surveys, network data, hate crime statistics, and laboratory experiments to gain insights about the nature of negative contact. Kros shows that while negative interethnic contact is far less common than positive contact, it does increase levels of prejudice and undermine trust and social cohesion. However, negative interethnic contact is not more likely to occur in neighbourhoods or municipalities that are more ethnically diverse. A higher percentage of ethnic outgroup neighbours is not related to more hate crimes nor to more mundane negative experiences. Similarly, high school pupils are not more likely to behave negatively towards their classmates, for instance by bullying them, if they have a different ethnic background. Instead aggression is met with aggression, and negative behaviour can be a very effective way to distance oneself from lower-status peers or to gain a higher position in the social hierarchy.