Ingroup Favoritism and Outgroup Rejection in White Dutch Children

Interethnic prejudice in children has been studied mostly in the United States, but rarely in Europe, where the public discourse is increasingly negative about ethnic minorities, especially the Muslim minority. This study is the first to examine ingroup favoritism (White preference) and outgroup rejection (Black and Arab rejection) in children in the Netherlands. Furthermore, parental implicit stereotypes, colorblindness and explicit attitudes towards child interethnic contact are assessed as predictors of children’s ingroup favoritism and outgroup rejection. The study included 145 White Dutch children aged 6 to 8 years (M = 7.26, SD = 0.77), 61% female, and one of their parents (97% mothers). Children completed a social preference task involving pictures of Black, White and Arab children. Parents completed questionnaires on sociodemographics, colorblindness, and attitudes towards child interethnic relations, and performed an Implicit Association Task measuring implicit stereotypical beliefs about the Arab minority. The results reveal White ingroup preference (χ²(2) = 139.16, p < .001), and rejection of the minority outgroups (χ²(2) = 35.13, p < .001). Moreover, the Black outgroup was preferred more than the Arab outgroup (Z = -4.27, p < .001). No parental measures were significantly associated with children’s White preference or Black rejection. Having absolutely no reservations about child interethnic relations was associated with less Arab rejection (β = .26, p = .003). These findings suggest that parental explicit attitudes but not implicit stereotypical beliefs or colorblindness are associated with children’s interethnic prejudice, and that particularly the evaluation of the Arab group is affected.