When Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, released the findings of a study of people’s behavior in diverse neighborhoods last year, they received lots of immediate press and commentary (such as here and here and here). The paper itself is here, and its central conclusion is that “in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods residents of all races tend to ‘hunker down.’ Trust (even of one’s own race) is lower, altruism and community cooperation rarer, friends fewer.”

The problem doesn’t result in violence or overt racism. Instead, people withdraw from community life (“hunker down”), feel pessimistic about public action, and vote and volunteer less often. The paper holds out the hope of overcoming isolation and mistrust, as “successful immigrant societies have overcome such fragmentation by creating new, cross-cutting forms of social solidarity and more encompassing identities” (Putnam cites the U.S. military as an example). But the negative consequences dominate, and Putnam is honest about how startled he was by the results.

Putnam reiterates the findings in a long and interesting interview in the Jan-Feb issue of The American Interest.

“Many things affect civic participation — how much education you’ve had, how long you’ve lived here, and so on,” he admits. “So it’s clear that factors other than diversity account for some of the data. It’s just that everybody, well-educated and not well-educated, old-timers and newcomers alike, is affected negatively by increasing diversity. Holding constant socioeconomic resources, mobility, and many other things, as well, everybody is less likely to be engaged when they’re living in a more diverse town or city. That’s the research conclusion I found most startling: It’s not just that in the context of diversity people are less trusting of people who look different. It’s that in the context of diversity people are less trusting even of folks who look just like them.”

This is a serious conclusion that follows from a solid methodology, and many scholars have cited and analyzed the work in journals and conferences. And the publicity surrounding the study was widespread. But I haven’t heard any statements about diversity by leaders and policy makers and administrators that take Putnam’s study into account. Are there any college presidents or Offices of Diversity and similar persons and units in higher education that have introduced a note of skepticism into their pro-diversity platforms and utterances?