Michael O. Emerson
Rice University
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Featured researches published by Michael O. Emerson.
Social Science Quarterly | 2002
Michael O. Emerson; Rachel Tolbert Kimbro; George Yancey
Objective. We address methodological limitations in tests of contact theory. Just as importantly, we extend its theoretical focus to behaviors. Linking insights from social and cognitive psychology with contact theory, we hypothesize that prior racial contact will have significant effects on the racial diversity of contemporary social ties. Methods. Using the 1999–2000 Lilly Survey of Attitudes and Social Networks, we conduct univariate and multivariate analyses to test our hypotheses. Results. Those who had experienced prior interracial contact in schools and neighborhoods were more likely, as adults, to have more racially diverse general social groups and friendship circles. They were more likely to attend multiracial as opposed to a uniracial religious congregations, and to be interracially married. In general, these findings applied not only to all Americans, but to whites, African Americans, and Hispanics separately. They did not apply to Asians. Conclusions. Contact theory can and should be extended, rendering it more fruitful for studying race relations. Except when groups are an extremely small percentage of the population, even limited prior contact in multiracial settings appears to have important effects on contemporary social ties. These findings have important policy implications.
Journal of Immigrant Health | 2005
Jen’nan Ghazal Read; Michael O. Emerson; Alvin Tarlov
This paper contributes to a growing understanding of U.S. black-white health disparities by using national-level data to disaggregate the health status of black Americans into the following subgroups: U.S.-born blacks, black immigrants from Africa, black immigrants from the West Indies, and black immigrants from Europe. Using new data on the 2000 and 2001 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS), the authors compare the status of U.S.- and foreign-born blacks to that of U.S.-born whites on three measures of health. The analysis finds that U.S.-born and European-born blacks have worse self-rated health, higher odds of activity limitation, and higher odds of limitation due to hypertension compared to U.S.-born whites. In contrast, African-born blacks have better health than U.S.-born whites on all three measures, while West Indian-born blacks have poorer self-rated health and higher odds of limitation due to hypertension but lower odds of activity limitation. These findings suggest that grouping together foreign-born blacks misses important variations within this population. Rather than being uniform, the black immigrant health advantage varies by region of birth and by health status measure. The authors conclude by exploring the implications of these findings for researchers, health professionals, and public policy.
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | 2003
Michael O. Emerson; Karen Chai Kim
Although the overwhelming majority of religious congregations consist of members who share the same racial background, there are a significant number of multiracial congregations in the United States. We begin with an analysis of why most congregations remain uniracial despite racial integration in other institutions. Then, based on our two-year national study, we examine the key variables underlying the development of multiracial congregations. Specifically, we consider the primary impetus for change and the source of racial diversification. Based on the analysis of how some congregations have become multiracial, we present a typology of multiracial congregations. We find seven main types. It is our hope that the typology and analysis will illuminate the effects of racial diversity on the life cycle of congregations and serve as a useful framework to guide future studies of multiracial congregations. Ultimately, we intend this article to facilitate the development of formal theory and research on the genesis and sustainability of multiracial congregations. To that end, we conclude the article by offering hypotheses suggested by the typology and its underlying causes.
Sociology of Religion | 2003
Brad Christerson; Michael O. Emerson
A significant body of literature has documented and explained the racial and ethnic homogeneity of volunteer organizations, including religious ones. This paper seeks to break new ground by beginning to examine ethnically diverse religious organizations. In this study we ask: What are the personal costs of being in a multiethnic religious organization, and are these costs borne disproportionately by any specific groups of people? Drawing on macrostructural theories of intergroup relations and social psychological principles, we hypothesize that minority groups (in size and power) within ethnically mixed congregations will disproportionately bear costs compared to the majority group. We test our hypotheses using a case study congregation, conducting in-depth interviews with 22 members and 4 former members of the congregation. We also conduct a network analysis with 38 members of the congregation. We conclude that the same social dynamics that tend to produce internal homogeneity in volunteer organizations also produce high personal costs of belonging to multiethnic religious organizations. This is an important finding because it leads to the larger question of how multiethnic religious organizations survive despite these costs
Ethnic and Racial Studies | 2008
David Sikkink; Michael O. Emerson
Abstract We draw on recent developments in the sociology of race and ethnicity and theories of the duality of social structure to explain how the formation of ‘educational identities’ interacts with racial stratification to shape the school choices of highly educated whites in the United States. Analysis of the 1996 National Household Education Survey shows that the racial composition of schools plays an important role in the schooling choices of highly educated whites. As the per cent black in a residential area increases, whites are more likely to select alternative, higher-percentage-white schooling for their children. Importantly, this effect is amplified for highly educated whites (but not highly educated blacks). Ironically, then, despite many positive effects of formal education on racial attitudes, increased education for whites leads to greater negative sensitivity to blacks in public schools, which may in turn have the unintended effect of increasing school segregation and racial inequality.
Journal of Family Issues | 2016
George Yancey; Michael O. Emerson
Amidst increasingly equality in belief and in practice between the sexes, we ask if height preferences still matter, and if so, why people say they matter. First, we collected data from Yahoo! dating personal advertisements. Second, we used answers to open-ended questions in an online survey. The Yahoo! data document that height is still important in decisions to date but that it is more important to females than to males. Results from the online survey indicate that women wanted tall men for a variety of reasons, but most of the explanations of our respondents were connected to societal expectations or gender stereotypes. Gender-based legitimation of height preferences seem to be more central than evolutionary-based legitimation, but future work may discover a more nuanced interpretation.
Sociological focus | 2003
George Yancey; Michael O. Emerson
Abstract Americans are less likely to develop primary relationships with members of different races than with members of their own race. Thus, organizations in which Americans develop their primary friendships are highly likely to be racially segregated. In a society in which primary interracial relationships are uncommon, multiracial churches are anomalous organizations. The purpose of this paper is to explore how multiracial churches may form. We utilize factor analysis based upon a national sample of multiracial churches, found through The Congregational Project (TCP), to discover the pathways used to create racially integrated congregations. This analysis describes four possible pathways: leadership, evangelical, demographic, and network. Qualitative research provides a case study for each of these dimensions. Future theoretical work is necessary for understanding the development of these pathways. Social scientists need to conduct more empirical research to determine if the origination of multiracial churches is linked to enduring characteristics of those organizations.
The Sociology of Race and Ethnicity | 2015
Michael O. Emerson; Elizabeth Korver-Glenn; Kiara W. Douds
The authors provide an analytical review of the past 115 years of scholarship on race, ethnicity, and religion. Too often work in the study of race and ethnicity has not taken the influence of religion seriously enough, with the consequence being an incomplete understanding of racialization, racial and ethnic identity, and racial inequality. The authors examine key works in the field; conduct an assessment of articles published on race, ethnicity, and religion in six journals over a five-year period; and outline where scholarship should head in future years. Most notably, until the mutual influences of race, ethnicity and religion are better understood, the power of each is underestimated.
Journal of Black Studies | 2016
George Yancey; Michael O. Emerson
Support for biracial unions is a significant barometer of American race relations (Aldridge, 1978; Gordon, 1964; Porterfield, 1978). It is also useful for assessing the social acceptance of racial minority groups (Lewis, Yancey, & Bletzer 1997; Yancey & Yancey, 1998). Historically, opposition to interracial unions, especially those consisting of Blacks and Whites, was an important source for legitimizing racial segregation (Myrdal, 1964; Spickard, 1989). In contemporary America, White supremacist groups use fear of interracial unions to justify their rejection of racial equality (Ferber, 1998), and interracial marriages, especially Black-White marriages, continue to be proportionately rare (Jaret, 1995, chap. 7). When researchers want to gauge the level of opposition to interracial marriage, they typically use the most obvious method: They ask people. They then correlate the individual responses with other individual-level variables to see what individual-level factors are associated with individuals’ opposition to such unions. Based on this research, the following variables are correlated with expressing increased opposition to interracial marriage: older age, lower education and income, being Anglo, and political and religious conser-
Archive | 2010
Michael O. Emerson
My spouse grew up in Minnesota. I moved there when I was five, as my parents wanted to move back to the state they knew best. Although my spouse, children, and I have lived in Texas for over a decade now, nearly all the rest of our families live in Minnesota. At least once a year, and usually two to three times, we drive to Minnesota (about 1,300 miles) to visit family, attend family functions, and check on old friends. Our children were all raised in Texas, but because of their regular trips to Minnesota, because Minnesota is where their relatives live, and because Minnesota even has sports teams for which they cheer, they consider Minnesota their second home. When they talk about where they want to live when they grow up, they usually mention Texas and Minnesota in the same breath, as if the states geographically border each other and as if the vast differences between the states did not matter.