“DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH
OUR UNITY IS A WEAKNESS”
Divided – Divisive- Diversity
United – Uniting – Unity
DOES DIVERSITY MAKE YOUR COUNTRY STRONGER OR NOT?
IS IT GOOD FOR THE COMMUNITY OR NOT?
- Is it true, being divided is a strength?
- Having competing nations within one land makes you strong?
- Being united as a people makes you weak?
- Is it true, the less we have in common the more we get along?
What Does All The Research Say?
Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
A 2011 study researching the predictability of peace and violence among ethnic groups discovered “the importance of setting boundaries for peaceful coexistence”.
The study authors state: “Our analysis shows that peace does not depend on integrated coexistence, but rather on well defined topographical and political boundaries separating groups”.
Source: New England Complex Systems Institute, ‘Good Fences: The Importance of Setting Boundaries for Peaceful Coexistence’, 2011,
https://necsi.edu/good-fences-the-importance-of-setting-boundaries-for-peaceful-coexistence
Incompatible: Diversity and Community
A 2013 study, researching the ‘paradox’ of diversity lowering social cohesion, concluded that “community and diversity may be fundamentally incompatible goals”. The division of ethnic diversity may “prevent the formation of dense interpersonal networks that are necessary to promote sense of community.”[1]
The study suggests “the goals of integration and cohesion are just not compatible with each other”.[2] The study author reported: “a more segregated earth will be more cohesive, and a less segregated earth will be less cohesive”.[3]
Source 1: American Journal of Community Psychology, ‘The (In)compatibility of Diversity and Sense of Community’, 2013,
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1007/s10464-013-9608-0
Source 2: Michigan State University, ‘Study Asks: Is a Better World Possible?’,
http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2013/study-asks-is-a-better-world-possible/
Source 3: CityLab, ‘The Paradox of Diverse Communities’,
http://www.citylab.com/housing/2013/11/paradox-diverse-communities/7614/
Higher Diversity = Lower Social Capital
A 2007 study of citizens across 41 different American communities, that ranged from the extreme homogeneity of rural South Dakota to the very mixed populations of Los Angeles, found diversity reduces trust, civic participation, and civic health. It was revealed that “virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings.”
“People living in ethnically diverse settings appear to ‘hunker down’ – that is, to pull in like a turtle.”
The study found “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.”
In addition: Lower confidence in local government, local leaders and the local news media. Lower confidence in their own political influence. More interest and knowledge about politics and more participation in protest marches and social reform groups. Fewer close friends and confidants. Less happiness and lower perceived quality of life. More time spent watching television and more agreement that “television is my most important form of entertainment.”
Source: The Boston Globe, ‘The Downside of Diversity’, http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/05/the_downside_of_diversity/
Diversity Affecting Everyone Everywhere
Australian residents of multiracial neighbourhoods are more likely to agree that “you can’t be too careful in dealing with most Australians”, and the negative effect of diversity “operates on immigrants and locals alike”.
“The negative relationship between trust and ethnic diversity is not unique to Australia”, and increases in diversity correlate with problems worldwide; diversity is a universal human problem.
Source: The Weekend Australian, ‘The Downside of Difference’,
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/the-downside-of-difference/story-e6frgcjx-1111112914289
Diversity and Psychosis
A 10% reduction of minority group members doubles the likelihood of psychotic episodes in the minority group: “For every ten percentage point reduction in own-group density, the relative odds of reporting psychotic experiences increased 1.07 times for the total minority ethnic sample.”
The experience of being outnumbered increases social adversity, and “people resident in neighbourhoods of higher own-group density experience ‘buffering’ effects from the social risk factors for psychosis”.
Source: The British Journal of Psychiatry (Volume 201 Issue 4), ‘Ethnic density as a buffer for psychotic experiences: findings from a national survey’, 2012,
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/201/4/282.abstract?etoc
Diversity Increases, Trust Decreases
A 2015 study of over 5000 White British Secondary School Students concluded: “Diverse schools reduce trust in people of one’s own age”, and “diverse schools do not make White British students more inclusive in their attitudes on immigrants”.
Source: Social Science Research (Vol 49), ‘School Ethnic Diversity and White Students’ Civic Attitudes in England’, 2015,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X14001392
https://germjanmaat.wordpress.com/selected-publications/
Diversity + Proximity = War
“As we get additional information about others, we place greater stress on the ways those people differ from us than on the ways they resemble us, and this inclination to emphasize dissimilarities over similarities strengthens as the amount of information accumulates. On average, we like strangers best when we know the least about them.”
The term “environmental spoilage” describes the phenomenon that “as people live more closely together, the likelihood that they’ll become friends goes up, but the likelihood that they’ll become enemies goes up even more. … The nearer we get to others, the harder it becomes to avoid evidence of their irritating habits. Proximity makes differences stand out.”
Source: The Boston Globe, ‘How tech created a global village – and put us at each other’s throats’, 2017,
https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2017/04/21/how-technology-created-global-village-and-put-each-other-throats/
The Cultural Iceberg:
The Customs and Habits of an Ethnic Group
Cultural Values of the World
Top left: Secular Survival
Top right: Secular Self Expression
Bottom left: Traditional Survival
Bottom right: Traditional Self Expression
