Social Distance and Diversity

• What are the tolerance levels of college students from a predominately white society towards people of different ethnicities, races, religions, and sexual orientation? • What factors can influence the tolerance levels? Human diversity plays a role in today’s society. The United States is a country made up of millions of people with different ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs, and sexual preferences. The beliefs we have regarding diversity are given to us by our families and society. They are then given to the future generations and then the cycle restarts. It is important to understand how diversity impacts each society. Being prejudice towards an individual does not mean disliking them because of the way they behave. It is not liking an entire group (race, ethnic, religious, or sexual orientation). Since World War II, society has made attempts to diminish prejudices towards individuals. Attempts such as the Civil Rights Movement have brought an end to the segregation of races in everyday society. Even though these efforts have been applied to society, is there still an underlying prejudice? There are several factors that we believe can influence someone’s viewpoint about diversity. Such influences include an individual’s parents, religion, peers, and the amount of contact he or she has with diversity. Are these influences contributing to the tolerance levels of CSU students? Should students marry outside of their race? Or would students only go as far as being a friend? Knowing how comfortable CSU students are with diversity and what factors influence them can help to make campus more accepting. Method: • We created a survey using the Bogardu