In this article, I describe a program of research on the psychosocial benefits of racial/ethnic diversity in urban middle schools. It is hypothesized that greater diversity can benefit students' mental health, intergroup attitudes, and school adaptation via three mediating mechanisms: (a) the formation and maintenance of cross-ethnic friendships, (b) the development of complex social identities, and (c) decreases in perceived vulnerability. These hypotheses are examined in a 3-year longitudinal study of approximately 6,000 ethnically diverse 6th-grade students as they enter one of 26 urban middle schools in California. The overarching goal of this article is to present a strong argument that greater school ethnic diversity can buffer many of the normative challenges of early adolescence.

中文翻译：

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种族/民族与青少年的社会适应：学校多样性的重要性（如果没有）

在本文中，我描述了一项关于城市中学种族/族裔多样性的心理社会效益研究计划。假设通过以下三种中介机制，更大的多样性可以有益于学生的心理健康，群体间态度和学校适应：（a）形成和维持不同种族的友谊，（b）发展复杂的社会身份，以及（c） ）的感知脆弱性降低。在对大约6,000名不同种族的6年级学生进入加州26所城市中学之一进行的为期3年的纵向研究中，对这些假设进行了研究。本文的总体目标是提出一个强有力的论据，即更高的学校种族多样性可以缓解许多早期青春期的规范挑战。