ABSTRACT
This chapter presents shed light on three mediators that help explain the processes through which diversity may exert effects on outcomes related to social capital: intergroup contact, perceived threat, and social identity complexity. It focuses on two potential consequences: trust especially out-group, in-group, and neighborhood trust and intergroup attitudes. The chapter discusses a detailed review of the recent empirical work that has considered social identity complexity as a process explaining the link between diversity and intergroup attitudes. It provides intergroup contact theory and summarize current thinking in this field based on recent social-psychological work, to explain why consider intergroup contact a central mediator of the relationship between diversity and trust. The chapter demonstrates the role of perceived threat as an additional mediator in this relationship. When considering the effects of perceived diversity, again we obtained direct negative effects on trust out-group, in-group, and neighborhood trust, but not on attitudes.
