Social rejection during school years and the development of negative attitudes toward minority groups in adulthood

This research examined the correlation between social rejection during school years and rejection of minority groups as adults. In focusing on the relatively unexplored aspect of the impact of social rejection at school on attitudes to minority groups, this study draws on and integrates a number of different theoretical constructs. These are the General Strain Theory (Agnew, 1992, Agnew, 2006), which posits that stressful life events (like social rejection) can elicit a violent response; the Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), which explains the immediate contribution of social rejection to negative attitudes toward outgroups (for example, Aydin, Krueger, Frey, Kastenmüller, & Fischer, 2014); the Authoritarian Personality Theory (Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, & Sanford, 1950; Dhont, Roets, & Van Hiel, 2013) and the Generational Theory of Abuse (Younger, 2011), which link childhood experiences of rejection and parental violence with attitudes toward weaker and rejected groups; and Contact Theory (Allport, 1954), which explains the contribution of minimal relations with minority groups to the development of negative attitudes toward these groups. To evaluate the impact of social rejection during school years on attitudes toward minority groups in adulthood we examined the correlation between childhood rejection and the attitudes of Israel-born Jews, members of the ingroup, toward two minority groups in Israeli society, Arab Israelis and Jews of Ethiopian descent. We also examined variables likely to mediate the correlation between social rejection and attitudes as adults toward minority groups. The variables examined were social relationships with minority groups, self-esteem, and aggressive response to rejection.