Prejudice and ethnic bullying: a systematic review

• In Event: Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Topic - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Abstract

Social psychological theories have highlighted the importance of social contexts in individual attitudes and behavioural development, focusing a particular attention to the role played by parents, peers, and intergroup friendships (Aboud & Amato, 2003; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006). According to Sherif and Sherif’s (1953) Group Norm theory, the development of prejudice-related patterns is due to the pressures to conform to group norms. Within this perspective, attitudes, values, beliefs, and prejudices are all acquired as part of the socialization process, and “the attitude of prejudice is a product of group membership” (Sherif, 1948, p. 66). Ethnic bullying is a form of bullying perpetrated against members of ethnic minority groups and it can be possible to hypothesize a positive association between ethnic biases and prejudice this behaviour.
The general aim of the present study is to systematically examine the relationship between ethnic bullying and prejudice perceived at the Individual, Parental, Peer, School and Societal level (systems of prejudice). We conducted a Systematic review following the PRISMA guidelines (Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff, Altman, & PRISMA Group, 2009). Several keywords, related to different aspects, were used for the search: prejudice (Prejudi*, Bias, Stigma*, Stereotyp*); ethnicity (“Ethnic*”, “Minorit*”, “Immigra*”, “Rac*”); bullying behaviour (“Bull*”, “Victim*”, “Violence”, “Harassment”, “Discriminat*”, “Rejection”, “Exclusion”); and sample age (“Student*”, “Adolescen*”, “Youth*”, “Child*”). The search was conducted in March 2020, combining abstract, titles and keywords in the SCOPUS, Web of Science and ERIC scientific databases, and led to 25062 articles. After screening, and quality assessment, 14 final studies were included in the systematic review.
We consider associations among all systems of prejudice and both perpetration and victimization in ethnic bullying. Results showed that prejudice measured at each system was significantly related with ethnic bullying perpetrations, while half of the studies found a non-significant association between prejudice and victimization. The Individual and the Peer systems of prejudice showed to be those mainly associated with ethnic perpetration, while for what concerns the correlations between prejudice and ethnic victimization, the most related system of prejudice was the Individual one.
However, looking at the strength of these associations, we found that most of the correlations between prejudice and both victimization and perpetration, although significant, were very weak. The strongest ones emerged in the analyses considering the Individual system of prejudice, with r ranging from .49 to .50, suggesting its relevance in the engagement in ethnic bullying perpetration.
Results highlight firstly the lack of research about prejudice and ethnic bullying in the scientific literature. In fact, only 14 studies were included in the present systematic review and just few of them analysed prejudice perceived in other significant systems beside the individual one (i.e. Parental, Peer, School and Societal). The individual prejudice seems to be the strongest associated to the behaviour of bullying peers belonging to ethnic minorities. However, more research is needed to better understand the role played by parents, peers, the school and the society in affecting both the behaviours (ethnic bullying) and the individual prejudice itself.

Authors

• Maria Chiara Taiti, University of Florence
  Presenting Author

• Benedetta Emanuela Palladino, University of Florence
  Non-Presenting Author

• Maria Grazia Lo Cricchio, Università per Stranieri 'Dante Alighieri' of Reggio Calabria
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ersilia Menesini, University of Florence
  Non-Presenting Author