Are Inter-Minority Contacts Guided by the Same Mechanisms as Minority-Majority Contacts?: A Comparative Study of Two Types of Inter-Ethnic Ties in the Netherlands

Abstract

Research on inter-ethnic contacts in European countries has mainly focused on the interaction between ethnic minorities and the native majority. Our contribution is to examine inter-minority contacts and compare them to minority-majority contacts. Drawing on a theory of preferences, opportunities, and third parties, we expected some determinants of contacts with natives to relate similarly and others differently to inter-minority contacts. Using data on four non-Western minorities in the Netherlands, we found that education, Dutch language proficiency, and outgroup size are positively associated with both inter-minority and minority-majority contacts. Further, occupational status relates positively to contacts with natives and negatively to contacts with other minorities, whereas ingroup identification is positively associated with inter-minority contacts and negatively with contacts with natives. These diverging findings underline the importance of studying interaction between minorities as a separate phenomenon.