# IMHO: College students seem to be more accepting and understanding when compared to other groups of people **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 12, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-college-students-seem-to-be-more-accepting-and-understanding-when-compared-to-other-groups-of-people/917902 "2020-08-12T17:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sta3535](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@sta3535](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sta3535)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-college-students-seem-to-be-more-accepting-and-understanding-when-compared-to-other-groups-of-people/917902/1 "2020-08-12T17:08:02Z")
I’m not sure if it has to do with being surrounded by other young people, different maturity levels, or the overall college experience, but after 4 years, I believe that college students are more likely to be accepting and understanding of each other, when compared to other groups of people. High school stereotypes = popularity contest, social status, and cliquish behavior Adult stereotypes = generally more mature, focused on their career/future, different behaviors from high school and college students. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-college-students-seem-to-be-more-accepting-and-understanding-when-compared-to-other-groups-of-people/917902/2 "2020-08-12T17:47:39Z")
> [@sta3535](#): > > …but after 4 years, I believe that college students are more likely… Are you talking about college grads, or folk currently attending college? May be subtly different. IMO many folk in college can be very accepting, as they are living in a artificial and highly supported environment. I am also likely willing to believe that having completed a college program results in a more accepting/understanding individual - at least if the college was somewhat diverse in various respects. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-college-students-seem-to-be-more-accepting-and-understanding-when-compared-to-other-groups-of-people/917902/3 "2020-08-12T19:08:49Z")
One thing to realize here is that college students are very similar in many ways. Not, obviously, every last individual, but on average college students come from richer families with more cosmopolitan worldviews, are better read, more driven, more studious, more willing and able to excel within the framework of academia. It’s a lot easier to be accepting and understanding of people who largely have quite a lot in common with you. That said, there is research that shows that college graduates are more open to new experiences, and that the relationship is causal. That going to college makes people more willing to try new things and accept new realities, rather than that people who are already more open tend to go to college. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-college-students-seem-to-be-more-accepting-and-understanding-when-compared-to-other-groups-of-people/917902/4 "2020-08-13T14:35:05Z")
Agree with the responses above. Since we don’t know what “other groups” the OP is comparing his college students to, here’s another factor possibly in play. Over the next 50 years as those newly minted college students grow up & encounter the real world, their accepting attitudes will slowly harden to some degree. But starting from a much more accepting baseline than, e.g. somebody the same age who spent their age 18-22 working a cash register or driving a truck. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-college-students-seem-to-be-more-accepting-and-understanding-when-compared-to-other-groups-of-people/917902/5 "2020-08-13T14:45:01Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > One thing to realize here is that college students are very similar in many ways. Relative to what? People who _live in the same place_ tend to be far more similar. For most people, going to college is the first time moving away from their parents’ home and the parochial worldview of their home town. Compared to growing up at home and going through high school, college typically exposes people to a much _greater_ diversity of people and opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-college-students-seem-to-be-more-accepting-and-understanding-when-compared-to-other-groups-of-people/917902/6 "2020-08-13T14:53:15Z")
> [@sta3535](#): > > I believe that college students are more likely to be accepting and understanding of each other, when compared to other groups of people. If we’re considering prejudice and bigotry, I think it’s negatively correlated with age and intelligence; and it’s often culturally inherited. So it makes sense that young, intelligent people moving away from their parents’ influence and the parochial cultural context of their place of birth would tend to be more accepting of diversity than average. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-college-students-seem-to-be-more-accepting-and-understanding-when-compared-to-other-groups-of-people/917902/7 "2020-08-13T15:19:08Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Relative to what? Relative to a random section of the population. Even a random selection of a given geographical area. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-college-students-seem-to-be-more-accepting-and-understanding-when-compared-to-other-groups-of-people/917902/8 "2020-08-13T15:28:51Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Even a random selection of a given geographical area. I completely disagree with this. Aside, of course, from the obvious similarity in age and above-average intelligence among college students. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-college-students-seem-to-be-more-accepting-and-understanding-when-compared-to-other-groups-of-people/917902/9 "2020-08-13T15:42:57Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Aside, of course, from the obvious similarity in age and above-average intelligence among college students. Sure, except for the things that make them very alike, they’re different. A random group of people, even from a pretty small geographical area, is going to have a wide variety of life experiences. You’re going to have kids, parents, grandparents, working class people, middle-class, deacons, veterans, homeless people… The variety of humanity is wide-ranging. In contrast, college students aren’t just basically all the same age, they’ve largely had a similar upbringing that instilled similar cultural values. They’re _nearly_ all from middle and upper-class families that value education and their experiences simply aren’t that different, simply because it’s not possible to have as much difference in life experience in just 18ish years and also do the things that it takes to get into college.