Ethnic and gender bias among Dutch and Turkish children in late childhood: The role of social context

In this study, intergroup bias is investigated among Dutch and Turkish children (10-13 years of age) living in the Netherlands. Children indicated their general attitudinal orientations towards boys and girls as well as towards Dutch and Turkish contemporaries. The role of social context was examined in terms of cultural and status differences between ethnic and gender categories, and also in terms of the school situation. Compared to Dutch children, the Turkish children showed less ethnic bias but more gender bias. In addition, boys showed more ethnic bias than girls, with girls indicating more gender bias. Furthermore, Turkish children had higher ethnic identification than did Dutch children, and girls had higher gender identification than boys. Intercultural education was shown to have a positive effect on ethnic bias, and the percentage of Dutch children in the classroom had a negative effect. Neither characteristic had an effect on gender bias. It is argued that the pattern of results is most in agreement with an intergroup perspective in which the role of social context is taken into account. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.