title: Xenophobia and tolerance toward immigrants in adolescence: cross-influence processes within friendships.
abstract: To what extent do adolescents and their friends socialize each others' attitudes toward immigrants? Can friends' positive attitudes toward immigrants counter adolescents' negative attitudes toward immigrants, and do friends' negative attitudes decrease adolescents' positive attitudes? These questions were examined by following a large (N = 1,472) friendship network of adolescents (49.2 % girls; M(age) = 13.31 at first measurement) across three annual measurements. Selection and influence processes regarding tolerance and xenophobia were distinguished with longitudinal social network analyses, controlling for effects of age, gender, and immigrant background. Findings showed that friends' tolerance predicted increases in adolescents' tolerance and friends' xenophobia predicted increases in adolescents' xenophobia. Moreover, friends' tolerance predicted a lower likelihood of adolescents' xenophobia increasing. The current results suggest that interventions should distinguish between tolerance and xenophobia, as these appear to represent two separate dimensions that are each influenced in specific ways by friends' tolerance and xenophobia.
authors.affiliation: Center for Developmental Research, Örebro University, Fakultetsgatan 21, 70183 Örebro, Sweden. Maarten.vanzalk@oru.se
authors.forename: Maarten Herman Walter
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: van Zalk
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: Magraret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: Nejra
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: van Zalk
authors.forename: Håkan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stattin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001290:Attitude / Q000208:ethnology*; D002648:Child; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011287:Prejudice / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden / Q000208:ethnology