Perceptions of interracial friendships held by a black community in Soweto.

Abstract

This study looks at what black people feel about black youth involved in interracial friendships. The study was conducted in a black township in Soweto, Meadowlands. There were 78 participants (37 males and 41 females) who participated in the study. A questionnaire comprised of 8 scales was used to gather data. The scales measured different variables such as level of identification; feelings about black youth having white friends; symbolic threats; contact; intergroup anxiety; social distance as well as affective prejudice. Only seven scales were used to analyze the data gathered. On the whole, the participants appeared to have positive feelings towards youth having white friends. The participants‟ perceptions of the threats posed by youth having white friends were considered as individual items as well as summated into a scale. The correlation between the feelings about youth having white friends and the perceived symbolic threat scales indicated that there was a rather weak relationship between these variables.. The forward selection model of multiple linear regression was conducted in order to understand the influence of contact and attitudinal variables on feelings about interracial friendships. Three explanatory variables were significant: knowing white people, having white friends and symbolic threats were good predictors of how participants feel about youth having white friends. Although the question of contact hypothesis and affective prejudice was not raised as the main aim of the study, it was tested using multiple linear regression. Three explanatory variables were significant: knowing white people, having white friends and intergroup anxiety were good predictors of participants‟ affective prejudice. 9 In answering the association and difference between the dichotomous contact variables and intergroup anxiety, a two sample t-test was conducted. And lastly, demographic variable seemed not to be good predictors of how people felt about black youth in interracial relationships.