Diversity

[EveWasFramed]

I recently read an article that I found fairly interesting.
It talked about diversity in society and whether or not it was a civic strength.

One comment I found particularly interesting was this:

"...the greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. The study, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings."

The study was said to have included 30,000 people.

Anyone care to voice their opinion of the pros and cons of social diversity?

 

[Mr Seal The Albatros]

Well, people tend to work best when tackling something that involves them having to work together.
I'd also assume generalization has something to do with it too. If there's no division, the view of a group might be too big and people might rely more on the bystander effect.

Keep in mind, I'm not trying to say discrimination is a good thing of course. I apologize if I accidentally have. Also, this is just my two cents, not saying all this is 100% true.

 

[EveWasFramed]

Well, people tend to work best when tackling something that involves them having to work together.
I'd also assume generalization has something to do with it too. If there's no division, the view of a group might be too big and people might rely more on the bystander effect.

Keep in mind, I'm not trying to say discrimination is a good thing of course. I apologize if I accidentally have. Also, this is just my two cents, not saying all this is 100% true.

Very interesting. Perhaps it's why different countries sometimes work together toward solving issues? Diversity can mean different perspectives of a singular issue?

 

[SofiasMami]

I'm wondering if there were extraneous factors in the study that played into whether people give to charity or volunteer, et cetera. Things like poverty and the anonymity of living in large cities (which in America tend to be diverse) could also affect how people behave. I can't say I'm terribly surprised by what the study said though.
The city I live in is very diverse and I like it that way. I don't like it when everyone else looks like me. But I have no idea where we stand on civic engagement. It would be interesting to find out though!

-Teresa

 

[SophiaGrace]

Note to self: Talk about the diversity of the Deaf community in your response to this thread.

 

[kamya]

Makes sense to me.

 

[Darrell_Licht]

To a point we can put aside differences. At the end of the day it comes down to whether or not people relate. I don't feel it's discriminatory necessarily. As long as you aren't going out of your way to offend.

Surprise. We humans are a cliquey bunch.

 

[Regumika]

"...the greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. The study, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings."

We all know that each ethnicity has different morals, values, and beliefs. Some of them are touchy subjects and can often lead to issues when asked to work together. Two ethnicity may find themselves with almost opposite views in how to tackle a community problem. Education for example. An Asian would want the schools to instill rules (based on Asian culture) that maybe an Indian wouldn't want to follow. So, when you have nothing nice to say (in this case, potential arguments), don't say anything at all (standby and watch).

Though, like mentioned, diversity allows for more thinking outside the box.

 

[Rosebolt]

What comes to my mind when i read this is that it seems to prove how social we really are. Or how social we aren't. As is obvious, and already pointed out, different ethnicities have different views on life, and do things different, and that's the key word here, difference. There is safety in routine, safety in security, knowing what and how and who and when. So when differences come into play, that sense of security falls, which you will find back in the results you posted.

The obvious pro would be that people can learn from one another. However i wonder how much of that learning is really done, as that would probably depend on the mindset of individuals. Willingness to go through uncharted territory, etc. Leaving the safety behind. It might be that as a group, those things won't happen, but individually, they might. I wonder what that effect is on the group, and how often it happens.

 

[SophiaGrace]

You know, at my Deaf university only 5 students showed up to the presidential election committee panel discussion. The Deaf community is very diverse. So, maybe Eve is onto something here.

It was a pathetic turnout.

 

[ardour]

People have the greatest empathy for those of similar ethnic/cultural background. There is also suspicion for the motives of outsiders. For example here there's a perception that middle-class Asian migrants don't identify are insular and only concerned with exploiting the economy through buying up rental properties ( and that's probably true of some.) Attitudes like this aren't really conducive to community spirit.

 

[EveWasFramed]

People have the greatest empathy for those of similar ethnic/cultural background. There is also suspicion for the motives of outsiders. For example here there's a perception that middle-class Asian migrants don't identify are insular and only concerned with exploiting the economy through buying up rental properties ( and that's probably true of some.) Attitudes like this aren't really conducive to community spirit.

I have a feeling that much of the behavior might even be subconscious.