Neither Friend nor Foe: Ethnic Segregation in School Social Networks

Abstract

High levels of ethnic segregation have been widely observed in school friendship networks, whereas the degree to which school bullying networks are divided along ethnic lines remains uncertain. Using data from 981 students (53% girls, 47% boys; 11–14 years of age) in British schools, we sought to visualize, quantify, and compare the degree of ethnic segregation in friendship and bullying networks. Our findings contradict the common belief that ethnic segregation in friendship networks fosters interethnic conflict; instead, we identified similarly high levels of ethnic segregation in both friendship and bullying networks. Students may therefore simultaneously avoid positive and negative interethnic relationships. The findings indicate that positive and negative networks should both be considered to provide a comprehensive assessment of interethnic relations in the school environment.

Research often reports high levels of ethnic segregation in school friendship networks, as students predominantly befriend same-ethnic rather than other-ethnic peers (McPherson, Smith-Lovin, and Cook 2001; Moody 2001). It is commonly believed that such segregated school environments have a hostile intergroup climate and may harbor interethnic conflict (Tropp et al. 2022). However, as Brewer (1999) suggested, the prevalence of positive same-ethnic relationships (“ingroup love”; e.g., same-ethnic friendships) may not necessarily coincide with a prevalence of negative interethnic relationships (“outgroup hate”; e.g., interethnic bullying). The extent to which interethnic bullying occurs in ethnically segregated school environments is largely unknown because social network studies of interethnic relations have focused almost exclusively on positive networks, such as friendship networks, rather than negative networks, such as bullying networks. The scarcity of research on negative networks has persisted despite the recent drive in intergroup contact research to commence investigating the prevalence and consequences of negative contact between ethnic groups (Schäfer et al. 2021).

To address this lacuna, we sought to visualize, quantify, and compare the degree of ethnic segregation in both positive and negative networks in schools. We used data from a social network study conducted in two schools in England (Bracegirdle et al. 2022). Our sample consisted of 981 students aged 11 to 14 years in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. We asked students to nominate up to 10 friends and 10 bullies in their school grades. We then constructed networks visualizing the friendship and bullying links between students and color-coded students by ethnicity. These networks provide visual maps of the extent of ethnic segregation or integration in schools.

The friendship networks and bullying networks for each school grade are shown in Figure 1. In accordance with prior research (e.g., Moody 2001), the friendship networks showed high levels of ethnic segregation: 86% of friendships were between members of the same ethnic group (whereas only 14% of friendships were between members of different ethnic groups). Yet in contrast to common assumptions, we simultaneously identified low levels of interethnic bullying: only 18% of bullying ties were between members of different ethnic groups (whereas 82% of bullying ties were between members of the same ethnic group). The percentage of same-ethnicity ties did not significantly differ between friendship and bullying (Cohen’s d = 0.02). We therefore identified similarly high levels of ethnic segregation in positive and negative networks.

Figure 1.

Ethnic segregation in school friendship and bullying networks.

Furthermore, the percentage of same-ethnicity friendship ties and bullying ties did not significantly differ across grades or schools (d ≤ 0.18), despite differences in students’ age and the ethnic composition of the networks. The percentage of same-ethnicity friendship and bullying ties was, however, higher among Asian students than White students (d ≥ 0.32), which may result from there being greater opportunity for same-ethnic relationships among Asian students.

Overall, our findings contradict the common belief that ethnically segregated environments, characterized by a high prevalence of same-ethnic friendships, foster interethnic hostility. Instead, we found that ethnic segregation in friendship networks cooccurs with ethnic segregation in bullying networks, as students tended to avoid both positive and negative relationships with other-ethnic peers. The whole picture is one of pronounced ethnic segregation in social relationships regardless of the form they take.

Our findings additionally demonstrate the value of simultaneously studying positive and negative networks in order to provide a comprehensive assessment of interethnic relations in schools. Yet, as social network studies serve as case studies of specific social contexts, more research is needed that considers positive and negative networks across a range of diverse contexts. Importantly, although ethnically segregated school environments may not entail intergroup hostility, the lack of positive interethnic relationships may still be harmful as the benefits of interethnic contact for individuals (e.g., greater social capital) and society (e.g., lower prejudice and discrimination) may not be obtained (Brown and Hewstone 2005).

Supplemental Material

sj-pdf-1-srd-10.1177_23780231231214956 – Supplemental material for Neither Friend nor Foe: Ethnic Segregation in School Social Networks

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-srd-10.1177_23780231231214956 for Neither Friend nor Foe: Ethnic Segregation in School Social Networks by Chloe Bracegirdle, Jan O. Jonsson and Olivia Spiegler in Socius