Inter-Ethnic Relations on Campus: Can't We All Get Along?

Seniors (N=150) from five private colleges completed and returned a survey consisting of five sections: (1) the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure; (2) demographic information and questions about the extent of the respondent's interaction with other racial/ethnic groups; (3) questions about comfort level when interacting with Asian, White, Black, and Hispanic individuals; (4) student's perception of the college environment, with questions about the interracial climate, college support for ethnic group activities, ethnic self-segregation, pressure to attend ethnic activities and others; and (5) a request to list the names (or code names) of their good friends and indicate their ethnicity. Data collected from these surveys suggest that political correctness may make it difficult to obtain accurate data from respondents; more subtle measures of attitudes and interactions should be considered for future studies. The data also indicate that ethnic minority groups differ not only from White students, but also from each other in how they perceive and interact with each other. Future research should not only map out the patterns of interaction, but indicate at least limited ways in which ethnic interaction can be improved. Contains 44 references and 6 tables. (TS)