Social scientists variously predict that exposure to ethnic others either increases (conflict theory) or decreases (contact theory) out-group discrimination. We test the consequences of close ethnic exposures in a large randomized field experiment involving N=2,400 students. Results fail to support any of the major theories of inter-ethnic exposure under everyday conditions.  

Felix Elwert is Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the editor of Sociological Methods and Research.