Positive or negative ethnic encounters in urban neighbourhoods? A photo experiment on the net impact of ethnicity and neighbourhood context on attitudes towards minority and majority residents

Using data from a new factorial survey experiment, we study the mechanisms that drive negative interethnic attitudes in urban neighbourhood encounters. Specifically, we examine the extent to which the general impression made by a resident depends on the ethnicity of that resident and on the aspects of the neighbourhood environment. Majority and minority respondents in the Netherlands judged pictures and descriptions of fictitious neighbourhood residents, in which the ethnicity of the resident varied independently of other resident characteristics (i.e., work status, religion and problem behaviour) and the neighbourhood environment (i.e., physical disorder and ethnic and socioeconomic composition). We show that outcomes depend largely on the ethnicity of the respondent who experiences the encounters. For majority respondents, we find a main net effect of resident ethnicity: native Dutch are less positive about Surinamese residents. Furthermore, we find some support for the normative fit hypothesis that states that minority respondents are less positively evaluated in stereotype-consistent neighbourhood environments: native Dutch are less positive about Moroccan residents encountered in low-status neighbourhoods.

► We study attitudes towards minority and majority neighbourhood residents.
► We test the net impact of the resident’s ethnicity and its neighbourhood context.
► Disorderly neighbourhoods negatively affect attitudes towards all residents.
► Outcomes depend on the ethnicity of the person who experiences the encounters.
► We suggest further research on differences between verbal and visual stimuli.