title: Friendships fighting prejudice: a longitudinal perspective on adolescents' cross-group friendships with immigrants.
abstract: Increasingly, adolescents are growing up in multiethnic multicultural societies. While intergroup prejudice can threaten the multicultural societal cohesion, intergroup friendships are strong predictors of reduced prejudice. Thus, more research is needed to fully understand the development of intergroup friendships and their relations to less prejudicial attitudes. This study addressed two major developmental research questions: first, whether longitudinal patterns of intergroup friendships of native adolescents (i.e., whether or not a native German adolescent has a friendship with an immigrant at different points in time) relate to changes in rates of prejudice about immigrants. Second, whether these friendship patterns that unfold over time can be predicted by contact opportunities, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control assessed at the beginning of the study. The sample included 372 native German adolescents (14.7 years of age at first assessment, 62.3% girls) who showed one of four friendship trajectories over the three annual assessments: they either maintained, gained, never had, or lost a friendship with an outgroup peer. In particular, results showed that adolescents who gained an intergroup friendship over the three time points showed a significant decrease in negative prejudice over the study. All four theorized predictors contributed to explain friendship trajectory membership. Generally, adolescents with many opportunities for contact, positive attitudes about contact, perceived positive social norms for contact, and high levels of behavioral control (self-efficacy) were more likely to maintain a friendship with an outgroup member than to follow any of the three other friendship trajectories (gain, lost, or never had). The pattern of predictions differed, however, depending on the specific pairs of friendship trajectories compared.
authors: Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich, Andreasstrasse 15, 8050, Zurich, Switzerland, titzmann@jacobscenter.uzh.ch.
authors: Peter F
authors: PF
authors: Titzmann
authors: Alaina
authors: A
authors: Brenick
authors: Rainer K
authors: RK
authors: Silbereisen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology*; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D011287:Prejudice / Q000523:psychology*; D020377:Self Efficacy
references: J Youth Adolesc. 2014 Oct;43(10):1658-71
references: 25138528
references: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2000 Jul;79(1):49-65
references: 10909877
references: J Adolesc. 2004 Oct;27(5):561-81
references: 15475047
references: Child Dev. 2011 Nov-Dec;82(6):1715-37
references: 22023224
references: Br J Psychiatry. 2007 Nov;191:415-9
references: 17978321
references: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2011 Dec;101(6):1221-38
references: 21728450
references: J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2005 Mar;34(1):49-61
references: 15677280
references: Soc Sci Med. 2013 Oct;95:115-27
references: 23312306
references: J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2005 Sep;46(9):982-94
references: 16109001
references: Child Dev. 2011 May-Jun;82(3):812-29
references: 21410914
references: Annu Rev Psychol. 2002;53:371-99
references: 11752490
references: J Soc Psychol. 2004 Jun;144(3):335-47
references: 15168433
references: Br J Soc Psychol. 2001 Dec;40(Pt 4):471-99
references: 11795063
references: Annu Rev Psychol. 1998;49:65-85
references: 15012467
references: Psychol Methods. 2001 Dec;6(4):330-51
references: 11778676
references: Child Dev. 1987 Oct;58(5):1358-71
references: 3665651
references: Psychol Sci. 2008 Jul;19(7):717-23
references: 18727788
references: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2006 May;90(5):751-83
references: 16737372
references: J Fam Psychol. 2009 Jun;23(3):301-10
references: 19586193
references: Child Dev. 2011 Sep-Oct;82(5):1454-69
references: 21848954
references: Br J Soc Psychol. 2012 Jun;51(2):221-38
references: 21749415
references: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2009 Apr;96(4):843-56
references: 19309206
references: Dev Psychol. 2014 Jan;50(1):271-82
references: 23586943
references: Dev Psychol. 2014 Jan;50(1):86-99
references: 24188040
references: Am Psychol. 2005 Oct;60(7):697-711
references: 16221003