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Same‐Ethnic, Interethnic, and Interracial Friendships Among Asian Early Adolescents
Author(s) -
Chen Xiaochen,
Graham Sandra
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/jora.12309
Subject(s) - ethnic group , friendship , psychology , ethnically diverse , social psychology , identity (music) , developmental psychology , sociology , physics , anthropology , acoustics
This study examined the psychological functions of three friendship types (i.e., same ethnic, interethnic, and interracial) in a sample of 785 sixth‐grade Asian students ( M age = 11.5 years). Participants listed their friends in sixth grade and whether each nominated friend was the same or a different ethnic group. They also reported on their ethnic identity, intergroup relations, and perceived school safety. Results showed that same‐ethnic friendships were related to stronger ethnic identity and interracial friendships were uniquely related to school safety. Interethnic friendships (an Asian friend from a different country of origin) when perceived as same ethnic functioned similarly to same‐ethnic friendships, whereas interethnic friendships perceived as from a different ethnic group, like interracial friendships, were associated with better intergroup relations. Implications for studying friendships in ethnically diverse samples are discussed.