Racial composition of social settings, interracial friendship, and whites’ attitudes toward interracial marriage

This study examines the effect that the racial composition of neighborhoods, workplaces, congregations, and friendships has on whites’ attitudes toward interracial marriage with blacks, Latinos, and Asians. Utilizing survey data drawn from a national probability sample, ordered logit regression models are estimated in order to (1) determine the effect of the racial composition of neighborhoods, workplaces, and congregations on white intermarriage attitudes, net of sociodemographic and ideological controls and (2) test for a mediating effect of interracial friendship. Greater presence of blacks, Latinos, or Asians in neighborhoods and congregations of whites predicts favorable attitudes among whites toward interracial marriage with each respective racial group. A higher proportion of Latinos in the workplace also predicts support for racial exogamy with Latinos. Many of these effects, however, are reduced when interracial friendship is included in models, suggesting that the effect of interracial contact on intermarriage attitudes is mediated by whether or not whites develop interracial friendships within settings of cross-race interaction.

► I examine effects of minority presence in social settings on white exogamy attitudes. ► Interracial friendship mediates effects of interracial contact on exogamy attitudes. ► Greater presence of blacks in the workplace predicts white opposition to exogamy. ► Greater presence blacks and Latinos in churches predict white support for exogamy. ► Greater presence of Asians in neighborhoods predicts white support for exogamy.