Background to the Research

• Previous research has shown that members of the two communities in NI have limited meaningful contact with each other from a young age. Lack of contact impacts on the attitudes, perceptions and the expectations individuals have of members of the other community (the out-group). Low levels of contact also has implications for the growth of trust and cross-community relations.
• For many young people in continuing education in NI, attendance at university offers the first opportunity for Catholics and Protestants to work and socialise together. This environment offered a distinct opportunity to explore the factors that encourage inter-community relationships and those which inhibit them. The research obtained funding from CCRU in order to assess the nature and extent of Catholic-Protestant relations in a period of 12 months among first year students at the University of Ulster, Jordanstown.
  

Research Approach

• Every first year full-time student enrolled in the Faculty of Social and Health Sciences and Education at the Jordanstown campus completed a series of five questionnaires upon entry and again one year later. These were analysed using SPSS (Version 7.50). Sub-samples were randomly selected to participate in two co-religious Focus groups held a year apart. A series of interactive studies was carried out and analysed using the Noldus Observer 4.0 System.

The Sample

• The preliminary sample consisted of 270 students, 161 Catholics and 109 Protestants; 48 were male and 222 female. The mean age was 20 years and the mode 18 years. The follow-up sample (who had participated the year before), consisted of 213 students, 112 Catholics, 96 Protestants; 38 males and 174 females. The mean age was 21 years and the mode was 19 years.

The Surveys

• The Out-Group Contact Questionnaire was designed to set a baseline of previous contact and levels of friendship with members of the 'other community' (Out-Group=members of the other religion/community; In-Group=members of own religion/community). The Self-Disclosure Scale measured participants willingness to disclose personal information to a stranger or a friend of the same/opposite religion. The Group Identification Scale rated the level of agreement to 10 statements concerning the participants feelings about their own denominational group. The Individualized Trust Scale measured feelings of trust towards the other religious group. The Interpersonal Attraction Scale measured social, physical and task attraction.
  

Main Findings

The Surveys

• Before starting university nearly 75% of students said they had attended segregated schools and only 25% had relatives from the other community. At the start of their university life 50% of students reported working, socializing or playing sport with members of the out group. One-third did not regularly talk to members of the out group. Conversely, 66% of students were currently living with or were willing to live with members of the other community. 10% reported that they would object to living with members of the out-group.
• After one year students reported a 20% rise in out-group friendships. There was a 26% increase in numbers working together and a 20% increase in socialising together. Alongside this there was a 27% fall in those reporting that they did not enter in regular conversation with members of the out-group. The number of students likely to live in co-religious housing rose from 62% to 75% after one year. 10% still preferred to live in accommodation with their in-group.
• Catholic students identified significantly more strongly with their in-group and were more likely to disclose information to a friend of the same religion than their Protestant counterparts, at the start of year one and one year later.
• Both Catholics and Protestants were significantly more likely to disclose information to friends than strangers and disclosure to co-religionists was more likely than disclosure to opposite religionists. This held across the two genders.
• In relational terms, female students were significantly more trusting of and more socially attracted to their out-group than male students. Female students were more likely to disclose to others in general and to a friend of the same and opposite religion. Female students remained more likely to disclose information to a friend of the opposite religion than male students one year on.
• Both groups were significantly less trusting of one another by year 2, with Catholics significantly less likely to disclose information to out-group strangers than Protestants. In-group identification increased for both groups over the year. Interpersonal attraction towards the out-group increased over the 12 months and female students were more willing to disclose information to out-group friends than male students.

The Interactive Study

• The study involves a series of two-person recorded interactions between mixed-religion strangers and co-religion strangers. There were more examples of verbal agreement in same-religion pairs than mixed-religion pairs. More cues relating to familiarity and group identification were recorded among co-religion pairs than opposite-religion pairs, with significantly more reference to 'we' and mention of other in-group friends and acquaintances.
• Co-religion pairs did not spend significantly more time discussing religion, politics or sport than mixed-religion pairs. Nor were their interactions marked by a rise in positive non-verbal behaviours such as smiling or by fewer anxiety cues.
• In relation to attractiveness ratings following interaction with strangers, gender was a more significant factor in relational development than religion. Same-gender strangers rated one another higher on social, task and overall attractiveness, than did mixed-gender pairs.

The Focus Group Study

• Students in this sample displayed a general apathy about the importance of religion and they had not had a great deal of contact with their respective out-groups. Students felt that they had more inter-group friendships at university by year 2. Interestingly, close friendships and socialising patterns remained principally co-religious.
• In relation to politics, religion, sport and the troubles, students avoided these subjects in the presence of out-group members. Humour was employed when these subjects were raised as a way of bridging the divide. By year 2 this began to change and some of these issues were discussed where friendships had formed.
• At university, Protestants felt in the minority and reported a Catholic stridency in relation to symbols of cultural identity, such as hurling sticks, Gaelic football shirts and the existence of Irish societies. Protestants felt that they would not have displayed these symbols and if they chose to, it would not be acceptable. By year 2, some Protestants, but not all, perceived these symbols as reflections of the greater array of cultural symbols available to Catholics.
• In turn, the trend for the display of emblems and insignia such as GAA shirts, on sports bags etc. was confirmed among Catholic students, and they recognised that if the situation was reversed symbols could cause offense.
• Students identified segregated geographical locations, education and sport as largely responsible for group segregation. They recommended increased inter-group contact and the teaching of traditionally segregated sports for all school pupils.
• Student Recommendations - Pupils in primary and secondary school should learn and play one another's sport. The integrated school sector should continue to be encouraged, as should cross-community contact schemes. Students suggested that time should be spent at university working in teams and discussing one another's culture and practices.

Conclusion

• Although reportedly apathetic about religious denomination, students behaviour was influenced by it.
• Religious denomination influenced student choices of accommodation and, to a degree, conversational differences during in-group and out-group interaction. Over the 12 months students reported more out-group friendships and showed a positive attitude to integration. However, the data on diminished trust and discord relating to cultural symbols call into question the depth of these assertions.

Further Research

• Further research is needed to ascertain how, and in what ways, relationships between the two groups develop throughout the three/four years they are at university.
• Within the university environment there remains scope to ascertain the reasons for lack of trust and segregation.
• The question of what happens to inter-community relationships when students enter the workplace has led the authors to design a study which will research the nature and extent of in-group contact and segregation in the workplace.