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Around But Not Close? Mapping Normative Trends in Cross-Race Contact During Adulthood

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: How do people form cross-race relationships in everyday life, and do people vary from each other in this process? Answering these questions can yield useful insights for scholars interested in encouraging cross-race contact. We investigated how people (N=1,156 Bay Area adults) met their different-race (versus same-race) contacts, the roles that different-race contacts occupied in their personal networks, and the content and quality of their relationships with their different-race contacts. We found that different-race contacts were, on average, “around but not close”. They were met in less intimate settings; they occupied less intimate roles; and they were felt less close to. Importantly, processes varied across people. People who formed cross-race kin relationships were the most likely to have stable cross-race contact, and people who engaged in “high effort” activities with their different-race contacts (e.g., confiding in) had closer relationships with them. We highlight insights of these results for encouraging cross-race contact.

Source: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

DOI: 10.1177/01461672261427565

Authors: Stephen Antonoplis, Claude S. Fischer

Institutions: University of California, Riverside, University of California, Berkeley

Language: English

Topic: Social and Intergroup Psychology

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,900