Peter Noack

Direct and Extended Friendship Effects on Minority and Majority Children's Interethnic Attitudes: A Longitudinal Study.

Longitudinal direct and extended cross-ethnic friendship effects on out-group evaluations among German (majority status, N = 76) and Turkish (minority status, N = 73) children (age 7-11 years) in ethnically heterogeneous elementary schools were examined at the beginning and end of the school year (time lag: 7 months). The results showed that among majority status children, but not minority status children, direct cross-ethnic friendship predicted over time positive out-group evaluations. This association was partly mediated by perceived social norms about cross-ethnic friendship relations. No longitudinal effects of extended cross-ethnic friendship were found. These results suggest that in ethnically heterogeneous contexts, direct friendship is more effective in changing intergroup attitudes than extended friendship and that social status moderates direct friendship effects.

Predictors of change in postmerger identification during a merger process: A longitudinal study.

Adopting an intergroup perspective, the authors examined predictors of change in postmerger identification throughout a merger. Data were collected over 3 points of measurement from 157 students of a newly merged university. The 1st questionnaire was distributed 4 months after the implementation of the merger; the following 2 were distributed 6 months and 1 year thereafter. With its longitudinal design, this study replicates and extends past results by revealing predictors of change in organizational identification for members of the dominant and subordinate organizations throughout a merger process. As predicted, postmerger identification increased only slowly for members of both the dominant and the subordinate organizations. Multilevel models for change confirmed that the predictive effect of premerger identification on postmerger identification for members of the dominant organization dissipates over time. The effect of in-group typicality unexpectedly varied as a function of organizational membership and was stable over time. Perceived fairness in the merger process positively influenced postmerger identification across members of both organizations; over time the effect of fairness amplified.

Friendship Preferences Among German and Turkish Preadolescents

This study examined changes in and predictors of preference for same-ethnic friendships among German (N=106) and Turkish (N=45) preadolescents (M age=10.4 years) during their 1st year in an ethnically heterogeneous school. Drawing on the contact hypothesis, it examined the relation between childrens attitudes and their preference for same-ethnic friendship. Among both German and Turkish children, the latter decreased over time and its variability was predicted by intergroup attitudes and peer norms about cross-ethnic friendships. Outgroup orientation and perceived contact conditions predicted only German childrens preference for same-ethnic friendships. Over time, classroom identification increasingly reduced preference for same-ethnic friendships among Turkish children. The results showed that interindividual attitudes were related to childrens level of intergroup contact.

Adolescent perceptions of reciprocity, authority, and closeness in relationships with mothers, fathers, and friends

Adolescents in Germany and the United States completed questionnaires describing reciprocity, authority, and closeness in relationships with mothers, fathers, and friends. Reciprocity was linked to authority within and across friendships and parent-child relationships; reciprocity and authority were linked to closeness within and across parent-child relationships, but neither within friendships nor across friendships and parent-child relationships. Median splits divided adolescents into high and low closeness groups for each relationship to determine differences in reciprocity and authority. Patterns of reciprocity varied as a function of relationship closeness and nationality, as well as by age and gender. Patterns of authority differed by nationality only.

Hostility-Related Prejudice Against Turks in Adolescents: Masked Affective Priming Allows for a Differentiation of Automatic Prejudice

The masked affective priming task was used as an unobtrusive measure of intergroup prejudices in a sample of German adolescents (aged 13–15). Pictures of Turks and Germans were used as masked primes that preceded positive and negative target adjectives conveying either other-relevant valence (e.g., honest, evil) or possessor-relevant valence (e.g., talented, dull). Affective priming indices (denoting relative negativity of Turkish primes) were positively correlated with the open expression of prejudices towards Turks and foreigners in general in questionnaires as well as with discriminative interaction behavior in a virtual ball-tossing game. As expected, these correlations were found only for priming indices based on other-relevant targets, thereby emphasizing the differentiation of automatic prejudice into (imputed) hostility and depreciation.

Intergenerationale Transmissions- und Projektionsprozesse intoleranter Einstellungen zu Ausländern in der Familie

Zusammenfassung. Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit Zusammenhangen zwischen Einstellungen gegenuber Auslandern von Jugendlichen und wahrgenommenen sowie tatsachlichen Positionen der Eltern zu diesen Fragen. Fragebogenauskunfte von 1312 Thuringer Sechst-, Acht- und Zehntklasslern sowie von 772 Muttern und 648 Vatern bilden die Basis von SEM-Analysen, die die Transmissions- und Projektionsprozesse untersuchten. Die Ergebnisse legen eine komplette Mediation der elterlichen Einstellungen uber deren Wahrnehmung auf die Haltungen der Jugendlichen nahe. Gleichzeitig spielen projektive Prozesse eine wichtige Rolle fur die subjektive Reprasentation der elterlichen Einstellungen. Projektionen verlieren mit steigender Klassenstufe an Bedeutung, wahrend die Wahrnehmung der tatsachlichen Einstellungen der Eltern akkurater wird.

Children’s cross-ethnic friendships: Why are they less stable than same-ethnic friendships?

Previous findings suggest that children’s cross-ethnic friendships are less stable than same-ethnic friendships. However, it is not clear why this is. This study examined stability of same- and cross-ethnic friendships among 10-year-old children over the course of five months. Analyses focused on both individual-level data (comparing 82 German and 37 Turkish children) and social network data (comparing 125 German and 172 non-German children). We predicted that children high in empathy and who perceived peer norms about cross-ethnic friendships to be positive would have more stable cross-ethnic friendships. Results showed that cross-ethnic friendships were indeed less stable than same-ethnic friendships. Empathy marginally predicted stability of cross-ethnic friendships while peer norms only predicted German but not Turkish children’s cross-ethnic friendship stability. Further, children high in empathy were less likely to be deselected by their cross-ethnic friends and similarity in empathy between cross-ethnic friends increased the longevity of their friendship.

Family-related antecedents of early adolescent immigrants' psychological and sociocultural school adjustment in Germany

Immigrant students in many European countries have lower educational attainments than their mainstream classmates. The present study investigated family-related conditions for early adolescents’ acculturation orientations and psychological and sociocultural school adjustment in Germany. Analyses were based on data from 695 mostly second- and third-generation secondary school students from more than 50 countries. Parental acculturation expectations and cultural practices in the family (e.g., religion and language use) as well as their level of school involvement were the best predictors of pupils’ psychological and sociocultural outcomes. The importance of religion in the family differed most across immigrant groups and was strongly linked to adolescents’ ethnic orientation. Implications for research, educators, and policy makers are discussed.

School achievement and adolescents’ interactions with their fathers, mothers, and friends

This article explores effects of parents’ and friends’ behaviour in verbal interactions with adolescents concerning adolescents’ school achievement. The behaviour of adolescents’ partners was observed in interactions elicited by a plan-something-together task at first measurement of a two-year longitudinal investigation. Grades in school and perceived school success at measurement points 1, 2, and 3 were included to capture adolescents’ academic achievement. Cross-sectional correlations (n=32) and longitudinal partial correlations (n=24–26) served to analyse contemporaneous associations and directed effects across a one-and two-year time interval. Findings confirmed systematic influences of parents’ as well as friends’ behaviours on the objective and subjective measures of school achievement. Patterns of effects, however, partly depending on the type of partner in interactions. The differential effects are discussed with reference to structural differences between adolescents’ family and friendship relationships.RésuméCet article concerne les effets du comportement qu’adoptent les parents ou les amis des adolescents dans des discussions avec ces derniers à propos de leurs résultats scolaires. Les comportements des interlocuteurs des adolescents ont été enregistrés à la faveur d’interactions suscitées par une tâche de ‘plan-something-together” au début d’une étude longitudinale d’une durée de 2 ans. Les notes scolaires et l’auto-estimation de la résussite scolaire ont été enregistrés à trois reprises pendant cet intervalle, afin de cerner l’évolution de la réussite scolaire des adolescents. L’analyse corrélationnelle à chaque étape et entre les étapes permet de confirmer l’influence systématique des comportements des parents et des amis sur la réussite scolaire objective et subjective des adolescents. Des structures d’effets différents apparaissent cependant selon les types de partenaires. Ces différences sont mises en relation avec les différences structurales de relations que les adolescents entretiennent avec leurs parents et avec leurs amis.

Predictors of intentions to participate in politics and actual political behaviors in young adulthood

Drawing on data from a three-wave longitudinal study, the present research examined predictors of young adults’ intentions to participate in politics and their actual political activities while referring to the broader assumptions of the theory of planned behavior. The analyses were based on a sample of university students from the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. The results showed that attitudes toward political behaviors and internal political efficacy beliefs explained changes in students’ intentions to participate in politics. However, the perceived meaning that political participation has for important others had no additional effect. Furthermore, students’ intentions to participate in politics and their internal political efficacy beliefs predicted changes in their actual behaviors. Together, the findings supported the theory of planned behaviors as a useful framework helping to predict young adults’ intentions and actual involvement in political activities.