Implicit attitudes of elementary school students towards people with migrant background

Adults and young people without a migrant background attribute lower competencies and performances to persons with a Turkish migrant background, the largest migrant group in Germany. To what extent such (negative) implicit attitudes are already present among elementary school children in the fourth grade is unclear and was tested within this study. Furthermore, it was examined whether children with a Turkish migrant background and without a migrant background differ in their attitudes. It was also analyzed whether the variables social integration, perceived discrimination and identification with country of residence as well as the country of origin were related with the extent of implicit attitudes. Data came from 240 fourth graders (44.6 % female, 18.3 % with a Turkish migrant background). To measure implicit attitudes, the children worked on an implicit association test. Furthermore, they answered questions about variables of interest. It turned out that fourth-graders hold negative implicit attitudes (d = 0.21). In contrast to children with a Turkish migrant background, children without a migrant background had on average negative implicit attitudes (d = 0.39). For the whole sample it was found that a higher identification with Germany (beta =.14), the country of residence, was associated with negative implicit attitudes (R-2 =.03). The results are discussed in terms of content and methodological aspects. Implications for research and practice are presented.