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A growing number of studies have shown adverse effects of ethnic diversity on social cohesion routed in ethnic categorical differences, competition and racial threat. We build on previous research by examining the hypothesis that cultural (language) differentiation leads to lower intra-neighbourhood trust through feelings of anomie. Our results, based on data from the 2009–2011 UK Citizenship survey and a multilevel modelling framework, do not offer support for the proposition that diversity lowers trust through linguistic diversity and poor communication. In line with other studies, we find a negative association between ethnic diversity and trust and show that for the white group, this relationship does not depend on migrants' levels of fluency in the majority language. In contrast, in neighbourhoods where migrants cannot speak English well, increases in ethnic diversity are associated with higher levels of neighbour trust among the non-white group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the potential impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on people's perceptions of cohesion in their local communities; particularly for vulnerable groups/communities, such as ethnic minorities or those living in highly deprived neighbourhoods. To this end, we examine both trends over time in overall levels of cohesion as well as patterns of positive and negative changes experienced by individuals using nationally representative data from Understanding Society Study. We test whether rates of positive-/negative-change in cohesion over the pandemic-period differed across socio-demographic groups and neighbourhood characteristics. These trends are then compared to patterns of positive-/negative-change over time experienced in earlier periods to test whether the pandemic was uniquely harmful. We show that the overall levels of social cohesion are lower in June 2020 compared to all of the examined pre-pandemic periods. The decline of perceived-cohesion is particularly high in the most deprived communities, among certain ethnic minority groups and among the lower-skilled. Our findings suggest that the pandemic put higher strain on social-resources among vulnerable groups and communities, who also experienced more negative changes in other areas of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research frequently demonstrates diverse communities exhibit lower intra-community cohesion. Recent studies suggest there is little evidence perceived ethnic threat plays a role in this relationship. This paper re-examines the roles of ethnic threat and prejudice in the diversity/cohesion relationship. First, we test threat/prejudice as conceptualised in the literature: as mediators of diversity's effect. Second, we test a reformulation of the roles of threat/prejudice: as moderators of diversity's effect. Applying multi-level models to cross-sectional and longitudinal data of White British individuals across England and Oldham (a unique English town case-study) we find neighbour-trust lower in diverse communities. However, perceived-threat/prejudice does not mediate this relationship. Instead, we find perceived-threat/prejudice moderate diversity's impact on neighbour-trust. The result is diversity only reduces neighbour-trust among individuals who already viewed out-groups as threatening. Longitudinal analysis confirms the importance of out-group attitudes in the diversity/neighbour-trust relationship. In diverse communities, residents whose out-group attitudes improve, or worsen, become more, or less, trusting of their neighbours. However, in homogeneous communities, changes in out-group attitudes are not linked to changes in neighbour-trust. We therefore argue and demonstrate that perceived-threat emerges from other societal processes (such as socio-economic precariousness) and it is when individuals who already view out-groups as threatening experience diverse neighbourhoods that local cohesion declines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies demonstrate a negative association between community ethnic diversity and indicators of social cohesion (especially attitudes towards neighbours and the community), suggesting diversity causes a decline in social cohesion. However, to date, the evidence for this claim is based solely on cross-sectional research. This article performs the first longitudinal test of the impact of diversity, applying fixed-effects modelling methods to three waves of panel data from the British Household Panel Survey, spanning a period of 18 years. Using an indicator of affective attachment, the findings suggest that changes in community diversity do lead to changes in attitudes towards the community. However, this effect differs by whether the change in diversity stems from a community increasing in diversity around individuals who do not move (stayers) or individuals moving into more or less diverse communities (movers). Increasing diversity undermines attitudes among stayers. Individuals who move from a diverse to a homogeneous community report improved attitudes. However, there is no effect among individuals who move from a homogeneous to a diverse community. This article provides strong evidence that the effect of community diversity is likely causal, but that prior preferences for/against out-group neighbours may condition diversity's impact. It also demonstrates that multiple causal processes are in operation at the individual-level, occurring among both stayers and movers, which collectively contribute to the emergence of average cross-sectional differences in attitudes between communities. Unique insights into the causal impact of community disadvantage also emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although studies in the US have shown an association between the ethnic residential composition of an area and reports of decreased social cohesion among its residents, this association is not clear in the UK, and particularly for ethnic minority groups. The current study analyses a merged dataset from the 2005 and 2007 Citizenship Survey to assess the evidence for an association between social cohesion and ethnic residential concentration, composition and area deprivation across different ethnic groups in the UK. Results of the multilevel regression models show that, after adjusting for area deprivation, increased levels of social cohesion are found in areas of greater ethnic residential heterogeneity. Although different patterns emerge across ethnic groups and the measure of social cohesion used, findings consistently show that it is area deprivation, and not ethnic residential heterogeneity, which erodes social cohesion in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A number of studies have found a negative relationship between ethnic diversity and social capital and assumed from this a harmful effect of diversity on social cohesion. This article suggests that social cohesion must be treated as a multifaceted concept and any analysis into the relationship between diversity and social capital needs to be complemented by an analysis of diversity’s effect on ‘relations between ethnic groups’. Our results show that while increasing diversity does have a negative impact on social capital, it simultaneously improves perceptions of, and relations between, ethnic groups. Furthermore, we find that forming ‘bridging’ ties in diverse environments plays a significant role in the positive relationship between diversity and tolerance, and that the presence of ‘bridging’ ties can also reduce the negative impact of diversity on social capital. However, while our results show that diversity has both positive and negative effects on social cohesion, we find that it is disadvantage which has the most detrimental impact, undermining both social capital and interethnic relations. We also find evidence that using a more sensitive measure of diversity (creating an area typology based on the proportional size, number, and type of ethnic groups in an area) reveals that living in different structures of diversity may lead to different social cohesion outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]