Interethnic weak ties online and out-group attitudes among Dutch ethnic majority adolescents

Abstract

Interethnic contact is essential to move past out-group prejudice. However, prior work on the relationship between interethnic contact and out-group attitudes mostly considers core social ties. Here, I consider ethnic majority adolescents’ interethnic weaker ties. To do so, I embrace a key feature of adolescent contemporary social life: they overwhelmingly maintain relations online that snapshot hundreds of ties. Using a combination of survey data among Dutch ethnic majority adolescents and linking this with information on their large circle of online contacts, I study whether and to what extent interethnic weak ties online correlate with out-group attitudes. I conjecture and find that interethnic contacts online correlate to less-negative out-group attitudes. Yet, there is a diminishing return for interethnic contacts on less-negative out-group attitudes. These patterns are carried by the Dutch majority’s out-group contacts with Turkish and Moroccan backgrounds. I discuss the implications of these results and suggest directions for future research.