The parent–child similarity in cross-group friendship and anti-immigrant prejudice: A study among 15-year old adolescents and both their parents in Belgium

•Indirect relation parental cross-group friendship and adolescent prejudice.•Large parent–child similarity in anti-immigrant prejudice.•Small, but significant, parent–child similarity in cross-group friendship.•Mediating mechanisms operate independently.•Adolescent prejudice is related to own intergroup experience and family experiences.

The aim of this article is to investigate the role of parental cross-group friendships on the anti-immigrant prejudice of their children. It is hypothesized that the relation between parental cross-group friendship and the child’s prejudice can be mediated by two intergenerational transmission mechanisms: (1) via parent–child similarity in prejudice, and (2) via parent–child similarity in cross-group friendship. Data stem from the Parent–Child Socialization Study (2012), a representative sample among adolescents and both their parents in Belgium. Controlling for the mediating mechanisms, no direct relationship between parental cross-group friendship and adolescents’ prejudice was found. Parental cross-group friendships was, however, indirectly related via parent–child anti-immigrant prejudice and cross-group friendship similarity. It is concluded that prejudice is strongly related within families.