Department of Sociology, New York University, New York, NY 10012, USA.
Department of Sociology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Sci Adv. 2021 Mar 12;7(11). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abf2507. Print 2021 Mar.
The term "diversity," although widely used, can mean different things. Diversity can refer to heterogeneity, i.e., the distribution of people across groups, or to the representation of specific minority groups. We use a conjoint experiment with a race-balanced, national sample to uncover which properties, heterogeneity or minority representation, Americans use to evaluate the extent of racial diversity a neighborhood and whether this assessment varies by participants' race. We show that perceived diversity is strongly associated with heterogeneity. This association is stronger for Whites than for Blacks, Latinos, or Asians. In addition, Blacks, Latinos, and Asians view neighborhoods where their own group is largest as more diverse. Whites vary in their tendency to associate diversity with representation, and Whites who report conservative stances on diversity-related policy issues view predominately White neighborhoods as more diverse than predominately Black neighborhoods. People can agree that diversity is desirable while disagreeing on what makes a community diverse.
“多样性”一词虽然被广泛使用，但它的含义可能不同。多样性可以指异质性，即人们在群体之间的分布，也可以指特定少数群体的代表性。我们使用一项具有种族平衡、全国性样本的联合实验，揭示美国人使用哪些特性（异质性或少数群体代表性）来评估邻里的种族多样性程度，以及这种评估是否因参与者的种族而有所不同。我们表明，感知到的多样性与异质性密切相关。这种关联在白人中比在黑人和拉丁裔或亚裔中更强。此外，黑人和拉丁裔以及亚裔认为自己所在群体最多的社区更加多样化。白人在将多样性与代表性联系起来的倾向方面存在差异，并且在与多样性相关的政策问题上持保守立场的白人认为，以白人为多数的社区比以黑人为多数的社区更加多样化。人们可以同意多样性是可取的，同时对是什么使一个社区多样化存在分歧。
