Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5673/sip.60.3.2
Croatian High School Pupils’ Attitudes towards Ethnic Minorities: The Role of Multiculturality, Social Identity and School
Tomislav Pavlović
orcid.org/0000-0002-4470-3715
; Institute of Social Science Ivo Pilar, Zagreb, Croatia
Ines Sučić
orcid.org/0000-0002-3533-3660
; Institute of Social Science Ivo Pilar, Zagreb, Croatia
Marina Maglić
orcid.org/0000-0002-6851-4601
; Institute of Social Science Ivo Pilar, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Amid digitalization, geopolitical turmoil, and migrations in Europe, the effects of sociocultural
context (especially cultural globalization) on attitudes and behaviours have become emphasized
more than ever. Young people are susceptible to (multi)cultural influences to which they
are exposed on a daily basis due to intensive involvement in contemporary social events and
characteristics of their developmental period. Exposure to and participation in various multicultural
elements, and nationalism and cultural openness substantially affect their attitudes,
relationships, and behaviours towards other groups, as well as their intercultural competencies.
The school environment plays an important and active socialization role in shaping the social
identity of adolescents, creating a normative environment that has the potential to promote
cultural openness via educational activities. Therefore, the first goal of our study was to explore
the attitudes towards minorities, multicultural exposure and contact, and nationalism cultural
openness of adolescents, while the second goal was to evaluate the relationships between multicultural
exposure and contact, and nationalism and cultural openness, taking into account
sociodemographic characteristics of adolescents, as well as characteristics of schools and communities
deemed potentially relevant for intergroup relationships. The study was conducted
within the CHIEF project on a sample of 2,134 adolescents (57% female) from 28 Croatian
secondary schools. Adolescents have exhibited positive general attitudes toward minorities.
The quantity of their self-reported multicultural contacts was low, while the levels of multicultural
exposure, nationalism and cultural openness were moderate. The possibilities of learning
about human rights and national identity within the secondary school curriculum were perceived
as moderate. Regression analyses conducted within the context of structural equation
modelling have confirmed the relevance of cultural openness, nationalism, perception of the
presence of different contents in education, gender, and socioeconomic status of the community
in determining the general attitudes towards minorities. Multicultural contacts did not
provide an independent contribution to the prediction of general attitudes towards minorities
when controlled for multicultural exposure.
Keywords
multiculturalism; nationalism; cultural openness; minorities; adolescents; school
Hrčak ID:
295191
URI
Publication date:
9.3.2023.
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