The findings, described in the journal Science Advances, suggest that young boys exposed to people of different backgrounds may grow up to be more liberal-minded adults. "White men who had a Black neighbor in 1940, compared to white men who did not, are more likely to be associated with racially liberal politics, as indicated by their registration with the Democratic Party even as late as 2017," the authors wrote. It’s an idea supported by converging lines of evidence from economics, political science, psychology and sociology, said Linda Tropp, a social psychologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who was not involved in the study.