Voluntary Associations and Minority Status: A Comparative Analysis of Anglo, Black, and Mexican Americans

The study focused on the voluntary associations of Anglo, Black, and Mexican Americans in Austin, Texas. A sample of 380 respondents provided the data. An information interview was used; trained interviewers coming from the same ethnic background as the respondent were employed. Ethnicity proved to be an important variable in predicting social participation, with Blacks having the highest and Mexican Americans having the lowest participation rate. Using multiple classification analysis, a number of structural variables were introduced as controls; and these variables, particularly education, were found to be responsible for the difference between Anglo and Mexican Americans. Blacks continued to have significantly higher rates of participation in voluntary associations after controlling on other variables. Both isolation and cultural inhibition theories can be found in previous literature to account for low participation rates among people having a subordinate status, and compensatory and ethnic community theories have been used to account for high rates of affiliation among these same groups. The findings from this study tend to cast doubt on isolation and cultural inhibition theories and to support compensatory and ethnic community theories.