Is classroom political discussion able to reduce anti-immigrant attitudes in adolescents? Testing the effect of frequency, length, and topic of classroom political discussions on anti-immigrant attitudes

Anti-immigrant attitudes are associated with many social problems and reduction of negative attitudes toward immigrants is one of many actions which can assist in preventing these problems, promote better relations within society, and subsequently, create a better quality of life. School is one of the environments that provide opportunity to reduce anti-immigrant attitudes by implementing curriculums that require teachers to encourage discussions on the issue of immigrants and immigration. Previous research has shown that political discussions have positive effect on development of anti-immigrant attitudes. However, there has been little research on classroom political discussions. Using Czech High School Survey panel data (N = 902; 53 classrooms) that include information from adolescents and their civics teachers, this study examines the role of classroom political discussions on the development of adolescents' anti-immigrant attitudes. The results show that adolescents experiencing classroom political discussions more often have lower levels of anti-immigrant attitudes than adolescents that are exposed to discussions less frequently. Furthermore, adolescents from classrooms that discussed immigration during their civics classes also report less negative anti-immigrant attitudes. Additionally, moderation analyses reveal that more frequent political discussions reduce anti-immigrant attitudes for those who experienced on average longer political discussions and those that discussed immigration during their civics classes. These findings support the argument for enforcing school discussions on various political topics because as results of this article suggest, classroom discussions have positive impact on how adolescents view immigrants if discussed frequently and thoroughly and may in turn reduce the negative consequences associated with anti-immigrant attitudes.

Automated summary

The study found that adolescents who frequently engage in political discussions have lower levels of anti-immigrant attitudes, while students who discuss immigration issues in classrooms also exhibit less negative attitudes towards immigrants. Additionally, more frequent political discussions can reduce anti-immigrant attitudes, especially for those who have longer and more in-depth discussions on political topics and immigration during their civics classes.