282 Chapter 8work are often segregated informally, if not
formally, by race. Cross-race friendships are
more common among racially diverse schools
(Quillian & Campbell, 2003), in part because the
racial diversity of a school influences children’s
perceptions of similarity and feelings toward
cross-race friends. In a study of first through
fourth graders, children who attended more
racially diverse schools evaluated same-race
and cross-race peers as equally likely to become
friends (McGlothlin & Killen, 2005). However,
White children who attended more racially
homogenous schools viewed cross-race peers
as less likely to become friends than same-race
peers—unless cross-race peers shared the same
activity interests. Thus, children judged friend-
ship as most likely to occur between two people
when there were shared activity interests—
regardless of the racial composition of the dyad.
The development of cross-race friend-
ships also has been studied among ado-
lescents transitioning from high school to
college (Stearns, Buchmann, & Bonneau,
2009). The number of cross-race friendships
increased for Whites, decreased for Blacks,
and was unaltered for Asians and Latinos.
The increase among Whites can be attributed
to increased opportunities. Although Blacks
also would have experienced increased
opportunities, being a minority race at col-
lege may have led them to bond with other
African Americans.
Opportunity structure is not the only
determinant of cross-race friendship. An-
other factor is preference, which may reflect
prejudice. Prejudice is associated with fewer
cross-race friendships (Aboud et al., 2003).
Friendship by definition involves an equal-
status relationship. If one group perceived the
other group as having a different status, either
lower or higher, this may inhibit friendship
formation. It is difficult to assess preference,
however, because people do not want to ap-
pear prejudiced. To disentangle preference■ Cross-sex friendships face a number of challenges:
emotional bond, sexual, equality, audience, and
opportunity.
■ The greatest challenges seem to be the emotional bond
and sexual challenges. Sexual attraction is not uncom-
mon in cross-sex friendship and seems to be more com-
mon among men than women.Cross-Race Friendship
Race is a powerful determinant of friend-
ship. The tendency to form friendships with
persons of the same ethnic group is called
homophily. Race/ethnicity is one of the de-
mographic variables upon which friends
tend to match. Interestingly, among children,
race segregation is not as prevalent as gen-
der segregation. In a study of first through
sixth graders, only 11% of children had a
person of the other sex in their social net-
work whereas 92% had a person of another
race in their social network (Lee, Howes, &
Chamberlain, 2007). Cross-race friendship
appears to be more common among children
than adults. However, among children cross-
race friendship declines with age and is less
stable than same-race friendships (Aboud,
Mendelson, & Purdy, 2003; Lee et al., 2007).
Why do cross-race friendships decline with
age? Although children do not express overt
prejudice—that is, they do not identify race
as a factor in selecting a friend—more sub-
tle forms of prejudice may begin to emerge.
Theoutgroup homogeneity effectbegins
to emerge with age (McGlothlin, Killen, &
Edmonds, 2005). That is, with increased
age, children began to perceive people of
other races as more similar to one another—
and thus more different from themselves.
One source of homophily is the
opportunity to interact with persons of
another race. Schools, neighborhoods, andM08_HELG0185_04_SE_C08.indd 282 6/21/11 8:12 AM