Ethnic classroom composition and peer victimization: The moderating role of classroom attitudes

Abstract

This study examined the imbalance of power thesis by investigating the link between ethnic classroom composition and peer victimization in 94 Turkish-Dutch (minority) and 374 native Dutch (majority) preadolescents (ages 9-13) living in the Netherlands. These children came from the same multi-ethnic classrooms (N = 31) and were considered as mutual out-group members. Analyses showed that children with more out-group classmates reported more peer victimization but only when those classmates evaluated their own ethnic group more positively than the out-group. This interaction effect was similar for minority and majority children, and no longer significant once children's experiences with ethnic peer discrimination were partialled out. Results indicate that ethnicity is not inevitably used as a criterion to victimize out-group members who are less well represented in the classroom. The findings partly support the imbalance of power thesis.