Ethnic composition of school classes, majority–minority friendships, and adolescents’ intergroup attitudes in the Netherlands

Abstract

The relationships between the proportion of ethnic minority adolescents in school classes, the proportion and quality of majority–minority friendships and intergroup attitudes were examined using multi-level analysis ( N = 2386 adolescents in 117 school classes in the Netherlands). In school classes with high proportions of ethnic minority adolescents, both ethnic majority and ethnic minority adolescents reported more negative out-group attitudes. Moreover, in these school classes, ethnic majority adolescents showed more positive in-group attitudes, whereas ethnic minority adolescents showed less positive in-group attitudes. The proportion of majority–minority friendships was related to less negative out-group attitudes for ethnic majority adolescents only. The quality of majority–minority friendships was related to less negative out-group and in-group attitudes for both the ethnic majority and ethnic minority adolescents. The results are discussed in the light of contact theory and ethnic competition theory.