UCLA

How democratic nation-states deal with racial and nativity diversity is critical in understanding membership in a world where immigration is salient and populations are becoming more heterogeneous. Although the extant literature provides some evidence that diversity is linked to decreased civic engagement and social trust, far less research investigates the effects of ethnoracial and nativity diversity simultaneously and within a multi-racial and multi-ethnic context. Data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey are used in this study to examine the simultaneous effects of ethnoracial and nativity neighborhood diversity in Los Angeles, California. The analyses examine the effects of neighborhood diversity on civic engagement and trust, and further unpacks the individual-and neighborhood-level factors that are associated with social cohesion. The results offer some support that within contexts such as Los Angeles, nativity diversity, and not racial diversity, is important to examine and should be taken seriously in future research. Results here also provide further evidence that neighborhood economic disadvantage, as well as individual-level residential mobility and friendship social ties, are critically important factors in predicting civic engagement and trust.