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In this paper we study the determinants of the stability of schoolchildren's interracial and same-race friendships. We argue that classroom organizational features and student characteristics affect the cohesiveness of social ties with consequences for friendship stability. The hypotheses are tested on longitudinal data from 375 fourththrough seventh-grade students in 16 desegregated classrooms. Descriptive and inferential analyses show that interracial friendships are almost as stable as same-race ones. Further, while the stability of interracial and same-race friendships is influenced by classroom characteristics, it is more strongly influenced by ascribed and achieved characteristics of students. We conclude that while individual characteristics of students are the strongest determinants of interracial friendship stability, schools can adopt policies and practices that promote stable friendships between black and white students.
Hallinan et al. (Thu,) studied this question.