People in more racially diverse neighborhoods are more prosocial

• Main Authors: NAI, Jared, NARAYANAN, Jayanth, HERNANDEZ, Ivan, SAVANI, Krishna
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: diversity; identity; prosocial; socioecological psychology; big data; Organizational Behavior and Theory; Organization Development
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/5359; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/6358/viewcontent/Nai__Narayanan__Hernandez____Savani__2017_.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Five studies tested the hypothesis that people living in more diverse neighborhoods would have more inclusive identities, and would thus be more prosocial. Study 1 found that people residing in more racially diverse metropolitan areas were more likely to tweet prosocial concepts in their everyday lives. Study 2 found that following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, people in more racially diverse neighborhoods were more likely to spontaneously offer help to individuals stranded by the bombings. Study 3 found that people living in more ethnically diverse countries were more likely to report having helped a stranger in the past month. Providing evidence of the underlying mechanism, Study 4 found that people living in more racially diverse neighborhoods were more likely to identify with all of humanity, which explained their greater likelihood of having helped a stranger in the past month. Finally, providing causal evidence for the relationship between neighborhood diversity and prosociality, Study 5 found that people asked to imagine that they were living in a more racially diverse neighborhood were more willing to help others in need, and this effect was mediated by a broader identity. The studies identify a novel mechanism through which exposure to diversity can influence people, and document a novel consequence of this mechanism.