Perspective Taking Explains Gender Differences in Late Adolescents' Attitudes Toward Disadvantaged Groups

Adolescents' Judgment of Homophobic Name-Calling: The Role of Peer/Friend Context and Emotional Response

Adolescents use some types of homophobic language (e.g., "that's so gay") as a form of banter, while other types are directly targeted as an intentional insult (e.g., calling someone a "fag, dyke, homo"). Little research has investigated adolescents' use and judgments about these types of homophobic language and whether judgments differ if they are used among friends or directed toward non-friend peers. This study investigated how relationship context and victim's (N = 477, M_age = 14.7, SD = 1.63) emotional responses related to judgments about anti-gay banter and homophobic name-calling. Adolescents evaluated homophobic name-calling as more wrong than anti-gay banter. While adolescents' evaluations of homophobic name-calling did not differ based on relationship context, adolescents did differentiate between anti-gay banter perpetrated by a friend vs. a peer. Further, emotional responses mediated these relationships in the anti-gay banter situation. These results suggest that adolescents' judgments about homophobic language are related to the relationship context and the type of homophobic language used.

How Does Adolescents' Openness to Diversity Change Over Time? The Role of Majority-Minority Friendship, Friends' Views, and Classroom Social Context

Young people are growing up in increasingly "super-diverse" societies, and show variations in how they approach diversity and embrace differences. Developing a good understanding of why some youth appreciate and value diversity whereas others do not is crucial in identifying ways to promote social interactions among different groups in broader society. The current study examined whether adolescents follow different trajectories in their views on diversity, and identified possible factors behind how they change over time. The sample included 1362 adolescents residing in Sweden (M_age = 13.18, SD = 0.43, 48% girls). Adolescents reported on their openness to diversity and classroom social climate. The peer nominations method was used to measure majority-minority friendship, and friends' views on diversity. Latent growth analysis showed that adolescents, on average, became more open to diversity over time, but with clear heterogeneity. Three distinct trajectories were identified as: high-increasing, average-increasing, and average-declining. Relative to the high-increasing group, the other two were more likely to be male and immigrant. Relative to the high-increasing group, adolescents on the average-increasing trajectory perceived their classroom climate as less cooperative, while the adolescents on the average-declining trajectory were less likely to have friends with positive views on diversity. The findings suggest that schools may serve as a shared ground for promoting openness to diversity.

Relational Aggression in Adolescents with Conduct Disorder: Sex Differences and Behavioral Correlates

As most research on conduct disorder (CD) has been conducted on male participants, it has been suggested that female-specific symptoms may be underestimated based on current DSM-5 criteria. In particular, relational aggression, i.e. the hurtful, often indirect, manipulation of relationships with the intention of damaging the other's social position, has been proposed as a characteristic of CD that is more common in females. In addition, sex-specific studies on correlates of relational aggressive behavior are lacking. Relational aggression may be strongly related to the correlates of proactive aggression, namely low affective empathy, and high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits and relational victimization. Thus, the present study investigated sex differences in relational aggression, and associations between relational aggression and correlates of proactive aggression in 662 adolescents with CD (403 females) and 849 typically-developing controls (568 females) aged 9-18 years (M = 14.74, SD = 2.34) from the European multi-site FemNAT-CD study. Females with CD showed significantly higher levels of relational aggression compared to males with CD, whereas no sex differences were seen in controls. Relational aggression was only partly related to correlates of proactive aggression in CD: Independent of sex, CU traits showed a positive association with relational aggression. In females only, cognitive, but not affective empathy, was negatively associated with relational aggression. Relational victimization was more strongly associated with relational aggression in males compared to females. Despite interesting sex specific correlates of relational aggression, effects are small and the potential clinical implications should be investigated in future studies.

Differences and Similarities between Perpetrators of Ethnic and Non-Ethnicity-Based Victimization

Immigrant and minority youth are at risk of ethnic victimization. Despite an increasing number of studies that aim to understand the consequences of such negativity, relatively little attention has been paid to understanding who the perpetrators of ethnic victimization are. To address this gap in knowledge, the present study examined whether youth who victimize their peers due to their ethnic background are also those who engage in non-ethnicity-based victimization. The study also investigated the underlying factors, i.e., impulsivity, empathy, moral disengagement, and attitudes toward immigrants, that are common or specific to groups of youth. The sample included 949 adolescents residing in Sweden (M_age = 13.11, SD = 0.41; range: 12–15; 46% girls). Cluster analysis revealed four distinct groups of adolescents, based on their reports of ethnic and non-ethnicity-based victimization: (1) low on both forms of victimization, (2) high on ethnic victimization only, (3) high on non-ethnicity-based victimization only, and (4) high on both forms of victimization. The results showed that being morally disengaged is a common denominator of ethnic and non-ethnicity-based victimizers. Difficulties in regulating impulses and lack of perspective-taking skills trigger youth’s engagement in non-ethnicity-based victimization. Lack of empathic concerns and low levels of positive attitudes toward immigrants are the bases of ethnic victimization. Together, these findings suggest that the precursors of ethnic and non-ethnicity-based victimization have similarities as well as differences, which require further attention in developing programs aimed at preventing different forms of peer victimization.

The Role of Perceived Inter-Ethnic Classroom Climate in Adolescents' Engagement in Ethnic Victimization: For Whom Does it Work?

Immigrant and minority youth are at risk of experiencing victimization due to their ethnic, cultural, or religious background. Despite an increasing number of studies that aims at understanding the consequences of being the target of such negative experiences, little attention has been paid to the factors that might counteract the occurrence of ethnic victimization. The present study aimed to address this gap in knowledge by investigating the possible role of school context. Specifically, the present study examined the extent to which perceived positive contact norms in class and teachers’ reactions to ethnic victimization are linked to engagement in ethnic victimization. It also examined whether such links differ across adolescents with different levels of tolerance toward immigrants. The sample included 963 adolescents residing in Sweden (M_age = 13.11, SD = 0.41; 46% girls). The results showed that perceived positive contact norms in class were associated with a lower likelihood of engagement in ethnic victimization across youth with different levels of tolerance toward immigrants. When adolescents perceived their teachers as not tolerating ethnic victimization, those with high levels of tolerance were less likely to engage in it. However, teacher reactions did not affect the behaviors of adolescents with low and moderate levels of tolerance toward immigrants. The findings indicate the importance of classroom context and teachers in counteracting negative interactions among students of diverse backgrounds.