The last few years have seen a marked increase in discussion around migration and the changing nature of societies, with support for far right candidates rising in response to concerns by people about the changing social diversity of their communities, where migration has shifted the ethnic and religious composition of the community.

Just as humans have had to adapt to changing economic and technological conditions, so too have they historically adapted to changing social conditions.  Various studies have highlighted the role in-groups play in society, with many suggesting people have a predisposition towards looking after their own in-group primarily.

That’s not to say, of course, that people don’t cooperate with those from other groups, but new research suggests that doing so may require a degree of time, with peoples initial reaction being to protect their own, before transitioning towards a more cooperative stance in time.

The research examined 22 years worth of publicly available data from the World Values Survey, the Latino Barometer and the European Social Survey, which all capture a range of psychological, sociological and demographic data.  Collectively they contain information from nearly 350,000 people spread across 100 countries.

Cultural diversity

The analysis found that people do indeed tend to respond negatively to changes in the religious makeup of their local community, with a fall in their perceived quality of life common.  This shifts over time however, with the local community usually benefiting from the increase in diversity, and individual quality of life returning to previous levels.

Upon analysing the various psychological processes involved in this transition, the researchers discovered that the initial negative reaction was largely due to the reduction in trust in the newcomers to their community.  This gradually developed however, as after a few years it was increasingly common to work and socialize alongside the newcomers, which significantly helped to build trust within the community, and therefore restored their perceived quality of life.

In other words, the more people interact with one another, the faster trust is developed across the community, and quality of life remains at pre-existing levels.

The findings suggest that people are perfectly capable of adapting to changes in the diversity of their local communities, and that any initial challenges can be relatively easily overcome, leaving the wider society better off for the newfound diversity it has.