Attitudes of Youth toward Diversity
This study explores the reaction of two adolescent populations; they are at an age which is decisive for the development of intergroup attitudes in regard to the cultural and religious pluralism characterizing their societies. I compare Italy, i.e. a context of recent immigration, and France, which has a longer immigration experience. The differences of context come down to each country’s history of immigration and to the role of the national political culture about the ways to deal with this phenomenon. The hypotheses of this research, which was conducted using a quantitative approach, hold that the different contexts would be the main sources of variation regarding stereotypes and attitudes towards immigration. Taking into account these two variables make it possible to understand why young Italians express social and economic prejudice, while the young French have prejudice based on identity.