General self-esteem of adolescents from ethnic minorities in The Netherlands and the reflected appraisal process

This article examines the question of how the lack of differences in general self-esteem between adolescents of ethnic minorities and Dutch adolescents can be explained. Attention is focused on the reflected appraisal process. It was found that for adolescents of ethnic minorities there is a significant relationship between general self-esteem and the perceived evaluation of family members, and no such relationship with nonfamily members. For the Dutch adolescents the findings are the opposite, which may explain why adolescents of ethnic minorities in general do not have lower general self-esteem, despite low status, prejudice, and discrimination.     

Happiness among adolescents in The Netherlands: ethnic and sex differences

A nationwide sample of 2710 Dutch adolescents and 518 ethnic minority adolescents living in the Netherlands was used to examine ethnic and sex differences in happiness. Analyses of variance were conducted with ethnic background, sex, and length of residence in the Netherlands, as variables. Socioeconomic status was included in the analyses as a covariate. Adolescents from ethnic minority backgrounds, as compared to the Dutch, had significantly lower scores on a generalized estimates of life satisfaction and on a measure of hedonic effect. Both differences, however, explained only a very small amount of variance. Girls (from all ethnic groups including the Dutch) had lower scores than boys on both measures. There was no significant effect for length of residence on either measure.     

Racial categorization and preference among older children in The Netherlands

In this study the pervasiveness of racial categorization is investigated among children (10–12 years of age) in multi-racial schools. Subjects were asked to sort photographs of unknown contemporaries and to indicate preferences. Skin colour, sex and facial expression were used as three characteristics which varied systematically in the pictures. The results show, first, that children preferred to use different features simultaneously instead of a single feature only. Second, in a dichotomous classification task skin colour and sex were the most obvious visible features used for categorization. Gender was also used for explaining socially undesirable behaviour, and for indicating preferences. while race was not used in these tasks. In indicating preferences facial expression and not skin colour was used as a subordinate category. There were very few differences between ethnic Dutch, coloured and ethnic minority children in the use of skin colour or other features.     

The Ethnic Hierarchy Among Majority and Minority Youth In The Netherlands

This study tests the hypothesis that ethnic groups have consensus about the relative position of ethnic out-groups in society. A survey among ethnic majority and minority youth in the city of Rotterdam indicated that: (a) each ethnic group preferred the in-group, (b) there was consensus on an ethnic hierarchy within ethnic groups, and (c) ethnic groups largely agreed on the ethnic rank order. Among the Dutch respondents, the ethnic hierarchy was found to be related to real cultural differences. The scheme of ethnic preferences corresponded inversely to the rank ordering of the ethnic groups in terms of collectivism. Among ethnic minority youth the rank ordering did not correspond to cultural differences but to existing socioeconomic status differences.     

Ethnic Minority Identity and Psychological Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Collective Self-Esteem

The study focuses on the psychological significance of ethnic minority identity among youth of Chinese origin living in the Netherlands. Relations of perceived group status and cultural values (allocentrism) with 3 measures of psychological well-being are examined. In addition, the mediating role of components of collective self-esteem (self-evaluation of ethnic in-group) is assessed. Collective self-esteem and psychological well-being depended more on perceived group status than on cultural values. Evidence was found primarily for the idea that components of collective self-esteem act as a mediating variable between perceived social status and psychological well-being. Different components function as mediators for different measures of well-being, suggesting that there are different mechanisms through which ethnic identity factors influence different aspects of psychological functioning.     

The Relative Importance of Ethnicity: Ethnic Categorization among Older Children

In this study the relative importance of ethnic categories is investigated among Dutch and Turkish children (10 to 12 years of age). Children were asked to categorize and indicate preferences with respect to eight hypothetical contemporaries in different situations that were described by a combination of ethnicity, gender, and a psychological characteristic (“expressed affect or smartness”). The results show, first, that children preferred to use psychological characteristics for categorization. Second, the use of ethnic categories was domain-dependent: Ethnicity was used less often in indicating preferences for playing than preferences for working on an educational task and for explaining quarrels. Third, the use of ethnic categories was affected by stereotypes. It is concluded that the widely accepted idea that ethnicity plays a central role in the judgements of children in multi-ethnic situations seems overstated.     

Educational Performance and Psychological Disengagement Among Ethnic-Minority and Dutch Adolescents

The authors used a questionnaire (N = 587) among ethnic-minority and majority group adolescents in The Netherlands to examine the idea that under certain conditions minority group members tend to psychologically disengage their self-evaluation from educational performance. The results showed that only among ethnic minorities, perceived discrimination in school was related to psychological disengagement. Furthermore, among both groups of participants, perceived diagnosticity of performance feedback was negatively related to disengagement. However, among the ethnic minority group this effect was found for only those participants with relatively high educational performance. The results showed that negative experiences in school can lead to psychological disengagement from the academic domain and that disengagement is not restricted to African American students.     

‘We were here first,so we determine the rules of the game’: Autochthony and prejudice towards out‐groups

This paper identifies autochthony—the belief that a place belongs to its original inhabitants and that they are therefore more entitled—as a relevant new determinant of out‐group prejudice. We hypothesized that autochthony uniquely predicts prejudice towards migrant groups and that it mediates the relationship between national identification and prejudice. The mediation process was anticipated to be especially strong for people who perceive out‐group encroachment, that is, those who feel that immigrants are ‘getting out of place’. These hypotheses were tested in two studies using nationally representative samples of native Dutch participants. In Study 1 (N = 793), we showed that autochthony is an empirically distinct construct and that it is a unique predictor of prejudice. Furthermore, higher national identifiers expressed stronger claims of autochthony, and these claims were in turn associated with more negative feelings towards migrant groups. Study 2 (N = 466) showed support for a moderated mediation model: Beliefs in autochthony were only related to prejudice for participants who perceived out‐group encroachment. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.