“Us Against Them” or “All Humans Are Equal”: Intergroup Attitudes and Perceived Parental Socialization of Muslim Immigrant and Native Dutch Youth

• Published in: Journal of adolescent research Vol. 32; no. 5; pp. 559 - 584
• Main Authors: van Bergen, Diana D., de Ruyter, Doret J., Pels, Trees V. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-09-2017; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Attitudes; Children; Egalitarianism; Ethnicity; Hostility; Immigrants; Learning Theories; Minority & ethnic groups; Muslims; Negative Attitudes; Parent attitudes; Parent Child Relationship; Parent-child relations; Parents & parenting; Social learning; Socialization; Youth; Muslim immigrant youth; intergroup antagonism; Moroccan Dutch youth; social learning; Turkish Dutch youth; parental ethnic socialization; minority-majority relations
• DOI: 10.1177/0743558416672007
• EISSN: 1552-6895
• ISSN: 0743-5584

Intergroup attitudes of Muslim immigrant youth and native youth in the Netherlands were examined in relation to perceived parental socialization. Our aim was to gain insights into parent-child (dis)similarity in antagonistic and egalitarian attitudes and to understand differences between these two groups in this respect. Data come from qualitative interviews with 22 Turkish Dutch, Moroccan Dutch, and native Dutch youth (aged 16-22) who were prone either to intergroup antagonism (i.e., held hostile and negative attitudes toward out-groups) or to egalitarianism (held egalitarian attitudes). Interviews were analyzed using the constant comparison method. Results show that in the majority youth group, egalitarianism as well as intergroup antagonism were quite comparable across two generations. The attitudes of Muslim minority youth diverged more from those of their parents and appeared to be related to the pedagogic relationship between parents and children. Minority youth prone to antagonism perceived a lack of adequate parental responses to their negative experiences in the context of Islamophobia. Egalitarian minority youth reported that their parents were quite sensitive to their communications about perceived exclusion and that they responded with advice and support. Findings are discussed with reference to the social learning theory and the ethnic socialization strategies identified by Hughes et al.