Eren Schnell

Introduction. The United States of America is a major cultural hub that hosts a diversifying community of people from different cultural, ethnic, and racial identities. Understanding how students’ own ethnic-racial identities (ERI) impact their social behaviors and friend choices could inform efforts to reduce racial bias and improve equity. For Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and White students, we predicted that higher centrality scores (how important one’s ERI is to one’s overall self-image) will be positively associated with more in-group friendships, while higher affirmation scores (how positively one feels about one’s own ERI) will be positively associated with more out-group friendships. These predictions were informed by previous research suggesting that higher centrality is positively associated with avoidance attitudes (Wantchekon et al., 2021), as well as research by Whitehead et al. (2009) which found that higher levels of affirmation preceded higher levels of outgroup warmth. This study attempts to replicate and extend previous findings about ERI and outgroup attitudes by examining outgroup behavior: specifically, whether aspects of ERI predict high school students’ friendships.

Methods. Students (N=226) from a diverse Midwest high school reported on their ERI centrality and affirmation during 10 consecutive school days and their friends’ identities using classroom-based surveys in May 2022. We measured two aspects of ethnic-racial identity by asking students to rank targeted statements on a 3 point scale, based on how they felt that day: centrality (sample: feel that your race/ethnicity is an important part of your self-image?) & affirmation (sample: feel proud to be your race/ethnicity?). Their daily ERI was averaged to create a mean score across 10 days for each aspect. In-group friendship was measured as the percent of friends who share their ethnic-racial identity. Hypotheses were tested with regression analyses which pooled results across 5 imputed datasets to handle missing data.

Results. BIPOC students reported higher ERI centrality and affirmation than White students, while White students reported higher rates of in-group friendships (63% of friendships were same-race vs. 47% for BIPOC students). The regression models for BIPOC students were significant using 5 multiple imputed datasets (p<0.001), indicating that ERI explained variance in their in-group friendships. Centrality predicted having more in-group friendships for BIPOC students (B = 0.36, p<0.05), but affirmation did not. Centrality and affirmation were not significant predictors of White students’ in-group friendships.

Conclusion. This study suggests that centrality–how important one’s ERI is to one’s overall self-concept–relates to BIPOC students’ likelihood of in-group friendships. A BIPOC student with high centrality could select in-group friendships, or being around others who share that identity could increase its centrality in their own life. These findings speak to the importance of BIPOC student groups, and any future studies could explore the impact of in-group friendships on different domains of BIPOC students’ lives. Future research should also explore factors influencing White students’ in-group friendships, considering factors such as public regard and implicit attitudes about race.