The key role that generalized trust plays in social capital formation is well documented, but its determinants are not well understood. Many studies suggest that racially and ethnically diverse areas have lower generalized trust than more homogeneous areas, but evidence regarding the impact of the spatial arrangement of racial and ethnic groups is not conclusive. Further, while scholars theorize that discrimination may play a role in racial trust gaps, no study has empirically supported this linkage. We examine the impact of racial residential segregation and perceived discrimination on generalized trust in two highly diverse Texas counties using data from the 2014 Kinder Houston Area Survey. Results indicate that perceived racial discrimination negatively impacts trust and may mediate the black-white trust gap, whereas racial segregation is positively associated with trust. Additionally, having an interracial friendship, one form of bridging ties, moderates the segregation-trust relationship such that, up to a certain level of segregation, having an interracial friendship increases one’s likelihood of trusting others. Together, these results provide insight into processes that generate or sustain the general trust that makes social capital formation possible and point to the continuing importance of race in shaping experiences and outcomes in modern American society.
Religion is racialized, and race is spiritualized. If we are serious about understanding race and ethnicity in the United States, we must wrestle with this statement and ultimately use it as our guide. As such, we provide a critical overview of the area of race and religion, reviewing the field's focus (or lack thereof) at the nexus of these two dominant areas of American life. We give an overview by era and then focus most carefully on work published in the twenty-first century.
Many White Americans believe that individual rather than structural factors explain racial inequality, yet there is substantial variation in Whites’ perceptions. Using data from the Portraits of American Life Study, we exploit this variation to provide insight into the processes driving Whites’ perceptions of the causes of racial inequality. Specifically, we assess how social boundaries inform Whites’ explanations for the disadvantage of two racial groups: Blacks and Asians. First, we examine how each group’s position in the racial hierarchy relates to the types of explanations employed by Whites and find that Whites use individual explanations more often for Blacks than Asians. Second, we assess the extent to which the importance given to race in one’s overall identity affects how Whites explain racial disadvantage. Whites who see their Whiteness as being important to their identity are more likely to use individual rather than structural explanations to explain Black disadvantage. Together, these findings provide insight into the social psychological processes that contribute to Whites’ perceptions of racial inequality and suggest increased attention to how perceptions of out-group boundaries shape individual perceptions of inequality. Addressing this dimension of how individuals view inequality will be critical to future efforts to reduce it.
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