[Previous entry: "Higher caste people have more complete intelligences"] [Next entry: "US casualties in Iraq 75% white"]

09/02/2007: "Multiculturalism causes distrust within ethnicity too"

But a survey in the US shows that greater ethnic diversity may hurt community spirit - in the short term, at least.

This is the conclusion of Harvard University political scientist Robert Putnam after studying data from the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey. Putnam found that levels of trust were generally
lower between people of different ethnicity.

Social scientists usually assume that such "out group" suspicion goes hand-in-hand with heightened "in group" cohesion. Putnam found otherwise: the level of trust between people of the same ethnicity also fell off with increasing ethnic diversity.

[ Needs reporting as this is culturally clarified. Multiculturalism, or lack of consensus, increases alienation among all peoples. ]

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg19526193.400