Diversity In Word & Deed: Most Teens Claim Multicultural Friends.

Diversity isn’t simply a buzzword to today’s teens: fully 79% of teens count among their friends someone of a different race, religion, or sexual orientation.

According to just-released figures from The TRU Study, a national teen lifestyle survey by Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU), nearly six out of 10 teens (58%) said their group of closest friends includes members of diverse racial backgrounds. Even more teens reported having friends from different economic and religious backgrounds (66% and 65% respectively).

“Teens today aren’t likely to make a big issue of differences in race, religion, and sexual orientation,” says TRU Vice President Michael Wood. “In fact, they’re much less inclined than their parents’ generation to even categorize such differences as issues at all.”

Despite the divided nature of American politics today, fully half of teens reported befriending an individual whose political beliefs differ from their own.

Still, Wood says it’s worth noting that although today’s teens are willing to fraternize with individuals of different races, religions, and family backgrounds, they’re more reluctant to get to know people who don’t share their core values.

“Teens still prefer to hang out with peers who share common ground with them,” Wood says. “But that no longer necessarily means their friends have to look the part. It’s all about attitudes and actions—about who you are and what you do, not what you are.”

One issue seemed less personally familiar to teens. Though nearly one-fourth of teens (24%) report having a friend whose sexual orientation differs from their own, that number is significantly lower than the measure’s other responses. The number of openly gay school-age teens remains comparatively small, but the increasing prevalence of school-based gay/straight alliances mean that these teens are often met with more acceptance than in years past.

Hispanic teens prove to be most open to multicultural friendships: 71% of Hispanics report hanging out with friends of different races, compared to 61% of African Americans and 53% of Caucasians. More white teens than other ethnicities report friend groups comprising different income levels and religions.

The research is based on the responses of more than 2,000 demographically representative 12- to 19-year-olds. The TRU Study is the largest of its type, surveying teens on attitudes, values, lifestyles, consumer behaviors, and trends. Last year, TRU, which is based in Chicago, conducted 1,000 focus groups, in addition to many in-depth interviews and customized quantitative studies. Over the past 22 years, TRU has interviewed more than half a million teenagers.