A recently released study involving Facebook concluded that race is not the most important deciding factor when determining friendships, an opinion echoed by many Biola students.

The American Journal of Sociology published the study earlier this month. Andreas Wimmer, a sociology professor at University of California Los Angeles, and Kevin Lewis, a Harvard University graduate student, conducted the study and found that certain factors, such as sharing the same major or dorm, are stronger components of forming friendships than the component of race. The study suggested that, while race does play a major part in choosing friends, other elements, like attending the same prep school or being from the same part of the country, are stronger deciding factors.

Study uses Facebook to gather information

Wimmer and Lewis’ study utilized the social networking site Facebook to follow the social lives of a group of 736 freshmen at an undisclosed university. The researchers obtained permission from Facebook to carry out their study, and they examined the freshmen’s developing friendships by utilizing the tagging feature to follow how and with whom the students formed friendships. Wimmer and Lewis found that, while students were seen hanging out with people of their own race, the freshmen spent most of their time with people who came from the same high school, or people who had been friendly to them earlier in the year.

While several students said they value diversity, Nancy Yuen, a Biola professor of sociology, said that many students are unwilling and unmotivated to break the social construction that is race.

“It takes true Christian humility and a purposeful desire to reach across different groups,” Yuen said. “It’s not comfortable, but it’s necessary to build God’s kingdom, because I’ve heard that students are tired of going to racial reconciliation chapels.”

Yuen said people take a stance on racial issues by choosing to take action or to remain inactive. Sometimes, it is not even choosing to be active or inactive that is the problem; many times people fail to see racism as an important issue at all.

Society remains racist

Yuen said she has observed the separation of races on the Biola campus and in the cafeteria. Students might feel tired of going to racial reconciliation chapels because they feel targeted or do not care about racial issues. But, according to Yuen, acknowledging the fact that people live in a racist society is key to realizing that there is inequality. Yuen also said that listening without putting up walls is a challenge, but it is what is necessary to build unity between races.

“We can be open to hearing that we are making mistakes,” Yuen said. “We can be mindful and purposeful in reaching out to other people of other groups and be humbly reflective about our own biases. The biases do exist; I think that people just don’t realize it.”

Biola students identify how they form friendships

Several students, however, said they believe friendships are most commonly formed based on commonality within majors, where they live on campus, common interests and goals in life.

“I met a lot of my friends through S.O.S. because whoever was around me, I automatically introduced myself to them,” freshman Amber Wentz said. “After S.O.S., it was more about choosing friends because of the goals they had and their outlooks on life.”

Sophomore Maddy Huebner agreed. “Most of my friendships are with girls on my floor,” Huebner said. “I don’t differentiate between races or even how people dress or act; it’s about whoever the Lord brings into my life.”

Race plays a role in friendships

While some Biola students said they choose their friends based on conditions other than race, they did not avoid the aspect of race entirely. Sophomore Julia Bates said race could play a part in forming friendships because of cultural similarities, or because students disregard the promotion of diversity. Most students said a common interest was the main deciding factor in forming friendships. Wentz, Huebner and Bates all said that common interest is the highest factor in how they chose their friends.

“I think you gravitate towards people you have the most in common with,” senior Samantha Weng said. “My friends are based on tennis; we have that in common.”

Students also mentioned that clubs on campus such as Maharlika, the club for Filipino students, and Unidos, the club for students of Hispanic background, promote racially-focused friendships. According to the Biola clubs’ website, the ethnic clubs on campus promote community for students based on culture and on common interests and welcome students who are interested in learning about cultures other than their own.

Though Biolans claimed race was not the deciding factor in choosing friends, many admitted it was easy to fall into the trap of not diversifying their friendships. Weng said that both her two best friends are also Asian; and Wentz, who is white, stated her best friends are also white. Bates said she believes it is easy to become friends with people of the same race because of the similarities within the culture, but that there needs to be a conscious effort to promote diversity in relationships.

“I don’t believe in the structures society places,” Bates said. “It is important for me to get a broad variety of friends because I value diversity, and to meet someone that is not like me is one of my greatest joys.”