The aim of the proposed research is to identify characteristics of students and of their school environment that affect friendliness between black and white students in desegregated classrooms. The particular focus will be on how characteristics of the school and classroom influence the formation, maintenance, and dissolution of cross-race friendships over an academic year and how these characteristics mediate the effects of student characteristics such as page, sex, and academic achievement on interracial friendliness. Relying on social psychological theories, including contact theory and theories of social exchange, expectation states, and social comparisons, predictions are made concerning the effects of individual, dyadic, and classroom variables on the likelihood of making and breaking cross-race friendships. The study will use an extant data set consisting of information on 1,477 students in 10 schools in northern California. The students range in age from eight through thirteen years and are in grades four through seven. The classes range from all-black to all non-black and include several racially balanced classes. Information on the friendships of the students in these classes was collected at six times over the school year. Several sets of cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses will be performed on the cross-race and same-race dyads in the sample by estimating the parameters of a multivariate logit model. The study aims to formulate a theoretical model that explains the dynamic mechanisms underlying the friendship process between black and white students. The results of this effort will clarify which student and classroom characteristics affect interracial sociability and how. In addition, the research will provide valuable information for educators. By establishing the impact on cross-race friendships of classroom and student characteristics, the study can assist school officials in understanding the differential attractiveness of students and in deciding what pedagogical practices will more effectively promote student social development in an interracial setting.
