Review of Economic Studies · 2026 · Arkadev Ghosh、Prerna Kundu、Matt Lowe、Gareth Nellis
中文摘要
非家庭型的青少年社会化机构，可能在构建紧密团结、包容性强的社区方面发挥关键作用。我们研究青年营——融合仪式、体育与公民教育——增强群体间凝聚力的潜力。我们将来自印度西孟加拉邦的印度教徒与穆斯林青春期男孩随机分配至为期两周的营地或纯对照组。为分离机制，我们对集体仪式（如唱国歌、穿统一服装、比赛中齐声助威和同步舞蹈）与群体间接触强度进行了交叉随机化。我们发现，营地减少了内群体偏见，提高了与外群体成员互动的意愿，并提升了心理福祉。营地结束一年后，营员拥有的外群体朋友数量仍是对照组参与者的两倍。与此同时，额外的营地要素具有异质性效应：仪式对印度教多数群体的积极影响大于穆斯林少数群体，而更强的群体间接触在印度教徒中产生了反效果，但在穆斯林中则不然。我们的研究结果表明，包容性青年营可能是弥合深层社会鸿沟的有力工具。然而，我们也强调了在设计能惠及所有群体的最优融合型营地时所面临的概念性挑战。
Abstract
Abstract Non-family-based institutions for socializing young people may play a vital role in creating close-knit, inclusive communities. We study the potential for youth camps—integrating rituals, sports, and civics training—to strengthen intergroup cohesion. We randomly assigned Hindu and Muslim adolescent boys, from West Bengal, India, to 2-week camps or to a pure control arm. To isolate mechanisms, we cross-randomized collective rituals (such as singing the national anthem, wearing uniforms, chanting support during matches, and synchronous dancing) and the intensity of intergroup contact. We find that camps reduce ingroup bias, increase willingness to interact with outgroup members, and enhance psychological well-being. Campers continue to have twice as many outgroup friends than control participants 1 year after the camps ended. Meanwhile, additional camp elements have heterogeneous effects: rituals have more positive impacts for the Hindu majority than the Muslim minority, while higher intergroup contact backfires among Hindus but not Muslims. Our findings demonstrate that inclusive youth camps may be a powerful tool for bridging deep social divides. Yet, we also highlight the conceptual challenges in crafting optimal integrative camps that help all groups.