Employing an alternative methodology and new data, the authors address the debate concerning the underlying causes of racial residential segregation. Are white Americans avoiding racially mixed neighborhoods because they do not want to live with nonwhites? And if so, is this the case independent offactors with which race is associated, such as crime levels or housing values? An over-the-telephone factorial experiment addresses these issues, measuring variables that shape white Americans' choice of purchasing a home. Based on a national, random-digit-dial survey of 1,663 white Americans, the effects of African American, Asian, and Hispanic neighborhood composition on whites' likelihood of buying a house are explored, as well as the other variables for which race may serve as a proxy. Results indicate that Asian and Hispanic neighborhood composition do not matter to whites. Black neighborhood composition, however, does matter, and matters even more for white Americans with children under age 18. The effect of black composition is net of the variables that whites offer as the primary reasons they do not want to live with blacks. The implications of these findings for segregation trends and for future research are considered. M any studies of residential segregation ask the same basic question: Does race exert an independent influence on racial residential segregation? Some studies conclude that race is a key independent factor (

Objective. We address methodological limitations in tests of contact theory. Just as importantly, we extend its theoretical focus to behaviors. Linking insights from social and cognitive psychology with contact theory, we hypothesize that prior racial contact will have significant effects on the racial diversity of contemporary social ties. Methods. Using the 1999–2000 Lilly Survey of Attitudes and Social Networks, we conduct univariate and multivariate analyses to test our hypotheses. Results. Those who had experienced prior interracial contact in schools and neighborhoods were more likely, as adults, to have more racially diverse general social groups and friendship circles. They were more likely to attend multiracial as opposed to a uniracial religious congregations, and to be interracially married. In general, these findings applied not only to all Americans, but to whites, African Americans, and Hispanics separately. They did not apply to Asians. Conclusions. Contact theory can and should be extended, rendering it more fruitful for studying race relations. Except when groups are an extremely small percentage of the population, even limited prior contact in multiracial settings appears to have important effects on contemporary social ties. These findings have important policy implications.

Interracial romantic relationships are a useful barometer of macrolevel race relations. Much of the research of who enters into interracial relationships concentrates upon marital relationships. While this research is useful, there is little research regarding who interracially dates. Logistical regression analysis was conducted on data from a telephone survey. European-Americans, African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Asian-Americans were analyzed separately. Similar demographic and social factors predicted outdating across racial groups. Within three of the four racial groups studied, younger men and those who attended interracial schools were significantly more likely to interracially date. Surprisingly, neither religious preference nor geographic region provided significant explanatory value in interpreting interracial dating. Furthermore, this data did not support notions that majority-group members use interracial dating relationships to “trade up” by dating racial minorities with higher economic and educational attainment.

The contact hypothesis suggests that interracial contact promotes harmonious racial relations. Previous tests of this hypothesis are dated and tend to deal with overt old-fashioned racism rather than subtle racism. The contact hypothesis is tested within residential settings and religious institutions. Residential integration does not appear to alter the racial attitudes of white respondents toward African-Americans. Yet after basic demographic controls, whites who attend interracial churches exhibit less social distance toward African-Americans and have a lower tendency to stereotype blacks. Interracial religious groups may lessen the development of racial myths and encourage more harmonious primary relationships between whites and blacks.

Studying interracial romance has been useful for understanding general race relations. Theories of African American alienation and social dominance orientation help explain why previous research has found African Americans to be the least desired racial dating partners. Alienation predicts that African Americans are less willing to interracially date than other racial groups since they are not allowed to participate in the majority culture. Social dominance orientation predicts that African Americans are more willing to interracially date than other racial groups because they occupy the lowest position in our racial hierarchy. This study utilizes an Internet dating website to explore the racial dating preferences of European Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans. The theory of African American alienation is upheld, as African Americans are generally less willing to interracially date than other races and are especially less willing to date European Americans.