Determinants of friendship choices in multiethnic society

Abstract

This paper examines the determinants of interethnic friendship patterns with the majority group and coethnic friendship ties. The analysis is based on a specially constructed data set from three separate sources. Our analysis indicates that (1) participation in ethnic business tends to substantially lower chances of developing friendship with the majority group; (2) individual socioeconomic characteristics strongly affects coethnic friendship; (3) previous experiences of friendship with the majority group are related to the level of friendship ties with the majority group; and (4) neighborhood qualities do not related to friendship choices of minority groups. Implications of the results are discussed.