Risk factors for ethnic prejudice during early adolescence

This study examines risk factors for ethnic prejudice during early adolescence in a sample of Italian middle school students (N = 187). It was predicted that low peer status would be associated with negative ratings of ethnic out-groups, but that this relation would be moderated by self-esteem. It was further hypothesized that individuals and their self-nominated groups would be similar with regard to ethnic prejudice, and that antisocial behavior would be positively related to ethnic prejudice. Consistent with our prediction, results revealed that when self-esteem was low, low peer status was associated with high prejudice against out-groups. On the contrary, when self-esteem was high, this relation was non-existent. Moreover, individuals and their self-nominated groups were similar with regard to ethnic prejudice, but only for stigmatized out-groups. A relation was found between antisocial behavior and ethnic prejudice, but only for non-stigmatized out-groups. The present study emphasizes the importance (1) of studying individual differences in risk factors and levels of prejudice and (2) of investigating the influence that peers may have on the development of ethnic prejudice.