Subtle and Blatant Prejudice Toward Chinese People in Italian Adolescents and Young Adults: The Role of “Friendship” and “Outgroup Representation”

This study analyzed subtle and blatant prejudice toward Chinese people expressed by 276 Italian adolescents and young adults, with and without friends from other ethnic groups. Italian version of Subtle and Blatant Prejudice Scale referred to Chinese people (Pettigrew & Meertens, 1995; Manganelli Rattazzi & Volpato, 2001) and three Semantic Differentials (Falanga et al., 2010) to analyze the representation of Self, the Italians (ingroup), and the Chinese (outgroup) were used. Young adults showed lower levels of subtle and blatant prejudice than adolescents; subjects with friends from other ethnic groups expressed lower levels in some components of subtle and blatant prejudice than the others; Chinese representation affected levels of ethnic prejudice.