Non-Hispanic white veterans returning from military service are more likely to move into diverse communities than their civilian counterparts. That, said UMass Amherst sociology professor Jennifer Lundquist, is one finding in a new report that looks at positive outcomes from enlistment.
Lundquist said underlying the finding is what’s called the social contact hypothesis.
“When you have two different groups of people –no matter what their differences are, whether it’s class, race, orientation etc. — you bring people together and when they’re living together and working together and in very close proximity and equal proximity, they begin to see each other as individuals rather than as a group stereotype.”
And the military, Lundquist said, is set up in a such a way that it encourages social contact.
Click the audio player above to hear the rest of Lundquist’s conversation with New England Public Radio’s Susan Kaplan.