Abstract
This study explored the relationships that exist between an individual’s geographical context (i.e., residential isolation and exposure to ethnic groups), social context (i.e., high school diversity and close friends), and cultural variables (i.e., ethnic identity and ethnocultural empathy) with 469 participants, (75.3% women, age M = 20.47 years, SD = 4.24. Structural equation models were employed to explore the relationships between the main study variables. Results suggest a sequential path to ethnocultural empathy that exists between different levels of the individual experience, beginning with the residential ethnic composition to ethnic peers (β = .372, Β = .006, SE = .001, p < .001), ethnic peers to ethnic identity (β = .274, Β = 2.991, SE = 1.048, p = .004) and ethnic identity to ethnocultural empathy (β = .361, B = .361, SE = .047, p < .001). Implications for the diversity of residential areas, schools, and friends are discussed.