A new survey conducted by the Interfaith Youth Core (IYC) has found that in U.S. colleges and universities, Muslim freshmen are the most inclined to have a considerable number of religiously diverse friends. Muslim students reported the highest percentage of affiliation with five or more friends of different religious or secular identities. “In sum, most students come to their campuses with some experience in bridging worldview divides through the friendships they cultivate,” the study reported.
Alyssa Rockenbach,co-principal investigator on the survey, says that maintaining diverse friendships gives “students more pluralistic mind-sets which makes them well prepared to graduate college and contribute to their workplaces in more productive ways.”
Here are some more findings from the IYC survey:
— 79% of Muslims are the most inclined to have a considerable number of religiously diverse friends as they are beginning their first term on campus.
— Muslim and Jewish students have more religiously diverse friends basically for growing up in religiously-diverse communities.
— Muslims (79%), Jews (68%), Buddhists (57%), and atheists (55%) are the most inclined to have a considerable number of religiously diverse friends as they are beginning their first term on campus.
— 47% of first-term students report having five or more inner worldview friends.
— The report also found, if students started college with a religiously diverse set of friends, they were most likely to end their first year with these diverse friendships.
