A Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis of Individual- and Contextual-Level Predictors of Cross-Ethnic Friendships in the UK

Meleady, Rose, Peetz, Hannah K., McKeown, Shelley, Leckie, George and Broadwood, Jo (2026) A Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis of Individual- and Contextual-Level Predictors of Cross-Ethnic Friendships in the UK. British Journal of Social Psychology. ISSN 0144-6665

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Abstract

Intergroup contact plays a central role in fostering positive intergroup attitudes; yet factors promoting intergroup contact are less understood. Using three waves of data from a nationally-representative UK household panel study (N=18,807), we applied longitudinal multilevel models to examine how individual- and objective neighbourhood-level indicators jointly predict cross-ethnic friendships. At the individual-level, higher openness and agreeableness, stronger neighbourhood belonging, and a left-leaning political orientation were associated with more cross-ethnic friendships. At the contextual-level, intergroup friendships were more common in neighbourhoods with more structural opportunity for contact (i.e. areas with a lower proportion of same-ethnic residents), and in areas with lower anti-immigration norms (as indicated by local Brexit ‘Leave’ vote share). Crucially, cross-level interactions highlighted the interplay of person and place: neighbourhood diversity fostered more cross-ethnic friendships especially among those with strong neighbourhood belonging, suggesting that people who feel embedded in their community are more likely to translate diverse surroundings into meaningful intergroup ties. Differences between ethnic majority and minority groups also emerged. For example, higher objective area-level racial hate-crime incidence predicted more intergroup friendships among majority members, suggesting a possible repair response, but showed no association for minority members. Findings underscore the multilevel and group-specific pathways to sustained intergroup friendships.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data Availability Statement: This study uses data from Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study, which are available to registered users through the UK Data Service. Due to licensing restrictions, the data cannot be shared directly by the authors.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	intergroup contact,cross-group friendships,predictors of contact,multilevel analysis,understanding society,sdg 10 - reduced inequalities,sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions,3* ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/reduced_inequalities
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Cognition, Action and Perception Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Social Cognition Research Group
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	02 Mar 2026 12:30
Last Modified:	17 Mar 2026 01:22
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/102127
DOI:	10.31234/osf.io/n4fpx_v1

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