The Moderating Effects of Group Dominance and Religiosity on the Relationship between Social Rejection during School Years and Attitudes toward Minorities in Adulthood

Social rejection during school years is a painful experience that has long-term effects, including development of negative attitudes toward minorities. Since social rejection is a complex experience, its effect in adulthood may be related to various background characteristics. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the effect of social rejection on negative attitudes toward minority groups in adulthood is related to group dominance and level of religiosity. Using a quantitative method, we administered a questionnaire that tested attitudes of 300 Israeli-born Jewish young people regarding Israeli Arabs and Jews of Ethiopian descent. In accordance with the hypotheses, social rejection was found as a predictor of negative attitudes toward minority groups only among members of the dominant group and those with high level of religiosity. The findings of the current study contribute to Social Dominance Theory and to the literature dealing with double marginality, since they demonstrate for the first time that social rejection at school combined with belonging to a dominant group (men and/or individuals of European descent) predicts a rejection of minority groups. However, social rejection at school combined with belonging to a non-dominant group (women and/or individuals of North African/Middle Eastern descent) predicts an acceptance of minority groups. Also, this research contributes to understanding the complex association between religiosity and prejudice, since it reveals that strong religious beliefs predict negative attitudes toward minority groups of the same religion only when they are combined with high level of social rejection at school