Ethnic prejudice is a worldwide problem, starts developing at a young age, and peaks in middle childhood (5-7 years old). Studies indicate that parental ethnic prejudice is associated with children...Show moreEthnic prejudice is a worldwide problem, starts developing at a young age, and peaks in middle childhood (5-7 years old). Studies indicate that parental ethnic prejudice is associated with children’s ethnic prejudice. How parents think and talk about multiculturalism may similarly play a role in the development of children’s ethnic prejudice. In this study with (N = 80) White Dutch mothers and their children, it was examined if there would be a negative relation between maternal views on multiculturalism and children’s ethnic prejudice towards Black and Muslim children and if these relations would be negatively mediated by maternal ethnic-racial socialization. Two separate mediation models (one predicting ethnic prejudice towards Black children, the other predicting ethnic prejudice towards Muslim children) were run using the PROCESS macro for SPSS. No significant relations were found between maternal views on multiculturalism and children’s ethnic prejudice towards either out-groups and maternal ethnic-racial socialization did not mediate these relations. However, most of the directions of the relations are in accordance with this study’s hypotheses. More research is needed and future reseach could use different approaches (e.g., larger sample, child reports of parental views, the views of both parents on multiculturalism, different cohorts existing of younger and older children or a longitudinal design) to gain more knowledge about the role that parents play in the development of their children’s ethnic prejudice. In this way parents could be informed about their role and how they might be able to prevent ethnic prejudice in their children.Show less
