Ethnic diversity and interethnic contact are increasing in Europe. Intergroup contact theory suggests interethnic contact to improve interethnic attitudes, but for young children, parental... Show moreEthnic diversity and interethnic contact are increasing in Europe. Intergroup contact theory suggests interethnic contact to improve interethnic attitudes, but for young children, parental attitudes toward child interethnic relations might be an important factor determining whether they are exposed to these potentially positive contact effects. This study therefore examined maternal attitudes toward child contact with different ethnic outgroups among 251 mothers (137 White Dutch, 69 Turkish-Dutch, and 45 Afro-Dutch) of a 6- to 10-year-old child (M = 7.51, SD = 0.98). Furthermore, associations between maternal attitudes toward child interethnic relations and child outgroup rejection were examined, as well as mediation effects of child actual outgroup contact. Neutral to positive maternal attitudes toward child interethnic relations were found, with relatively more negative attitudes among Turkish-Dutch than White Dutch and Afro-Dutch mothers, and toward child relations with Muslims as compared to another outgroup among White Dutch and Afro-Dutch mothers. Furthermore, results did not indicate that maternal attitudes were related to child actual outgroup contact or child outgroup prejudice and no support for the intergroup contact theory was found. These results suggest that intergroup contact theory does not easily apply, highlighting the need for more research on children in various populations and contexts using different measures and informants. Patterns from the present study suggest that most improvement in terms of maternal attitudes fostering child interethnic relations can be made in the interethnic relations including ethnic groups in the Netherlands that predominantly identify as Muslim. Show less
Barreto, M.; Breen, J.A. van; Victor, C.; Hammond, C.; Eccles, A.; Ritchins, M.; Qualter, P. 2022
The current study uses data from The BBC Loneliness Experiment to explore the social stigma of loneliness and how it varies by gender, age, and cultural individualism. We examined stigmatizing... Show moreThe current study uses data from The BBC Loneliness Experiment to explore the social stigma of loneliness and how it varies by gender, age, and cultural individualism. We examined stigmatizing judgements of people who are lonely (impressions of those who feel lonely and attributions for loneliness), perceived stigma in the community, and self-stigma (shame for being lonely and inclination to conceal loneliness), while controlling for participants’ own feelings of loneliness. The scores on most measures fell near the mid-point of the scales, but stigmatizing perceptions depended on the measure of stigmatization that was used and on age, gender, and country-level individualism. Multi-level analyses revealed that men had more stigmatizing perceptions, more perceived community stigma, but less self-stigma than women; young people had higher scores than older people on all indicators except for internal vs external attributions; and people living in collectivist countries perceived loneliness as more controllable and perceived more stigma in the community than people living in individualistic countries. Finally, young men living in individualistic countries made the most internal (vs. external) attributions for loneliness. We discuss the implications of these findings for understandings of loneliness stigma and interventions to address loneliness. Show less
Wilson, C.; Steen, T. van; Akinyode, C.; Brodie, Z.; Scott, G. 2021
