Ethnic Identity and Ethnic Prejudice in Children:

A Comparative Study of the Three Cities in Indonesia

Dyan Evita Santi

, Suryanto

and M. G. Bagus Ani Putra

Faculty of Psychology, University of 17 August 1945 Surabaya

2,3

Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Airlangga

Keywords: Ethnic prejudice, Ethnic identity, Children.

Abstract: This study aims to see the relationship between ethnic identity and children’s ethnic prejudice against

Chinese in 3 cities Bangkalan, Yogyakarta and Medan. The population in this study comprised children

aged 11-14 years. The data was collected in Islamic schools and public schools from a total of 173 children

in Bangkalan, 132 in Jogjakarta and 148 in Medan. The results concluded that Bangkalan and Jogjakarta

showed similar results in that there was a negative relationship between ethnic identity and a child’s ethnic

prejudice. This means that the higher the ethnic identity associated with the child's understanding of who

he/she is, the stronger the emotional ties and beliefs, and the stronger the commitment to the group, the

higher the child's ethnic prejudice and vice versa. While Medan showed different results in that there is no

relationship between ethnic identity and a child’s ethnic prejudice against Chinese.

1 INTRODUCTION

Almost all societies today are multicultural.

Indonesia as the one of the multicultural countries

divided into two major groups namely indigenous

ethnic groups such as Javanese, Sundanese, Batak,

Minang and immigrant ethnic groups such as Indian,

Arabic, European (representing Portuguese and

Dutch) as well as ethnic Chinese. Especially, the

Chinese, after the independence of Indonesian, are

classified as one of the tribes within the national

scope of Indonesia, in accordance with Article 2 of

Law No. 12/2006 regarding the Citizenship of the

Republic of Indonesia. According to Lubis (1995),

Indonesia as a multicultural country, could

potentially lead to disharmony and inter-ethnic

conflict. This will lead to disintegration and conflict

latency, so it could threaten the unity of the nation.

One of the most frequent ethnic conflicts in

Indonesia over the years has particularly occurred

with the Chinese in relation to indigenous and non-

indigenous dictatorships. In the Dutch colonial

period, the indigenous was used as the Malay term

for Inlanders, one of the Dutch Indies population

groups originating from indigenous tribes of the

archipelago. Therefore, Indonesians of Chinese,

Indian, Arab, European or mixed descent are often

classified as non-indigenous even though several

generations have been born in Indonesia. However,

the grouping in practice was often racist, because

there was discrimination. Therefore, when Indonesia

was led by President BJ Habibie, Presidential

Instruction No. 26/1998 was issued which abolished

the use of the term indigenous and non-indigenous.

In the era of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Presidential Decree no. 12/2014 was issued on the

change of the Chinese term to Tionghoa. It was

because the Chinese term was considered to have a

psychosocial-discriminatory effect on the social

relations of Chinese descent. President Yudhoyono

assesses that discriminatory views and treatment of a

particular person, group, community and/or race, in

principle violate the values and principles of human

rights protection.

One of the problems in a multicultural life was

prejudice. Prejudice can be a time bomb that can

erupt at any time, if the diversity was not understood

wisely. Psychological studies have also revealed that

differences in ethnic, religious, political and

socioeconomic status can lead to prejudice.

Prejudice is actually something natural in human

life. Allport (1954) argued that prejudice is

unavoidable in human life. Specifically, this study

focuses on children's ethnic prejudice. For decades

researchers have tried to understand children's

Santi, D., Suryanto, . and Putra, M.

Ethnic Identity and Ethnic Prejudice in Children: A Comparative Study of the Three Cities in Indonesia.

DOI: 10.5220/0008587302070215

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Psychology in Health, Educational, Social, and Organizational Settings (ICP-HESOS 2018) - Improving Mental Health and Harmony in

Global Community, pages 207-215

ISBN: 978-989-758-435-0

207

prejudice. Some researchers assume that prejudice

that children showed was not a representation of the

actual attitudes that they have, but only as a

reflection of the attitudes they imitate from others

(Aboud, 2000). So it is assumed that there is no real

prejudice in children. Yet others point to the

contradictory notion that the real prejudice has

occurred in children.

In children at primary school, their

understanding of racial stereotypes and prejudice

begins to increase; at the age of 10 to 11 years, their

awareness of racial stereotypes is widespread

(McKown & Weinstein, in Kail, 2010). But at this

age the overt prejudice generally begins to decrease.

This is because they begin to learn about the norm of

not being too open in showing favoritism towards

the ingroup beyond any other groups (Rutland, Kail,

2010). However, some studies show that the

decrease of overt prejudice does not mean that the

implicit prejudice also declines (Kail, 2010). This

assumed support by research conducted by Santi

(2014) with the subject of Javanese ethnic students

aged between 12-14 years. The results of this study

indicate that 77% of Javanese children in this study

have prejudice against Chinese, who are moderate to

high and only about 23% are low. It can be

concluded that prejudice has developed so early.

According to Bigler and Liben (in Kail, 2010)

prejudice develops as a part of a child's efforts in

understanding his/her social world, where this

understanding leads them to classify individuals

based on visible prominent aspects (such as race,

gender, age) as well as labels shown by adults

against particular groups.

To understand the factors that cause prejudice

shown by children was very important because there

was anguish that once children or adolescents have

shown prejudice against members of a particular

group, they keep hold of this attitude to all members

of the group. So, these attitudes will carry over to

adulthood even down to the next generations. In

addition, understanding child prejudice is important

because prejudice in adults is very difficult to

change, so that intervention will be more effective at

the beginning (Aboud and Levy, 2000).

Ethnic prejudice is essentially complex attitudes

that must be comprehensively understood.

Motivational aspects view prejudice as a result of

the development of moral reasoning (Killen, 2007),

ingroup identification (Rutland, Killen and Abrams,

2010), as well as threats to one's social identity

(Nesdale, et al., 2005; in Costello and Hodson,

2012). Based on this motivational process, a factor

that assumed the emergence of ethnic prejudice in

childhood was the ethnic identity of a child. In life,

individuals will always identify and define

themselves based on their social group (Turner,

1991, Hogg, 1996 in Myers, 1999) resulting in an

ethnic identity. Ethnic identity is the individual's

understanding of who he/she is, the attachment

between the emotional individual and group, the

confidence in the group, and the strong commitment

to the group and together performing the same

customs (Isajiw, 1999). Ethnic identity has proven to

be an important aspect of adolescent development,

such as dealing with psychological wellbeing

(Umaña-Taylor, Diversi and Fine, 2002), academic

achievement (Smith, et al., 1999), prejudice and

ability to overcome discrimination and racism

(Dubow, et al., 2000).

In this study researchers associate ethnic

prejudice with ethnic identity. Because ethnic

identity is an important part of one's social identity

that will affect how one wants to be known in their

social life. So it is very interesting to be able to

understand how ethnic identity affects ethnic

prejudice especially in children of majority ethnics.

Some studies assumed that ethnic identity has a

positive relationship with ethnic prejudice. This

means that the stronger the ethnic identity, the

higher the ethnic prejudice and vice versa. Ethnic

identity was the individual's understanding of who

he/she is, the emotional attachment between

individuals with their groups, the confidence in the

group, and the strong commitment to the group and

together performing the same customs. In some

articles it is stated that ethnic identity was defined as

an ethnic component in social identity. As defined

by Tajfel (1986) it was a part of individual self-

concept, derived from knowledge of membership in

a certain social group in line with values and

emotional aspects that are significantly attached to

the membership. Ethnic identity can be defined as a

subjective feeling of membership in ethnic groups

that involves self-labeling, belonging, group

preference, positive evaluation of ethnic groups,

ethnic knowledge, and involvement in ethnic group

activities (Phinney, 1990, 1996 in Cokley, 2007).

For decades, social psychologists have tried to

understand how identification of ingroups influenced

both ingroup and outgroup attitudes. This

assumption arises from the perspective of social

identity (Tajfel and Turner, 1979) in which

individuals who strongly identify themselves with

ingroups will tend to show a preference for their

ingroup rather than outgroups, compared to

individuals whose self-identification of ingroup

tends to be weak. This is because ingroups are

ICP-HESOS 2018 - International Conference on Psychology in Health, Educational, Social, and Organizational Settings

208

psychologically central to self-concept (Brown,

2000 in Yogeeswaran et al., 2014). In the context of

national identity, Pehrson et al. in Yogeeswaran,

(2014) found that individuals with a national identity

tend to have greater prejudice against outgroups. But

this depends on how they understand the definition

of the nation (Meeus, et al., 2010 in Yogeeswaran et

al., 2014). In particular, using two approaches that

are cross-sectional and longitudinal, Pehrson et al.

(2009) found that individuals who strongly

identified themselves with their nations expressed

greater prejudice against immigrants and asylum

seekers only if they defined their country in ethnic

terms, but not if they define a nation in the context

of citizenship. In this regard, some researchers argue

that there are two factors that tend to influence the

attitudes of members of the majority to ethnic

groups in the context of pluralistic countries: (a)

how ethnic group members openly express their

cultural identity and (b) how strongly an individual

identifies with their citizenship. These findings

suggest that even if one already has ethnic diversity

principles, expressing ethnic identity especially in

the public sphere can lead to rejection, because it is

assumed to threaten the status quo and the

peculiarities of being American.

On the other side ethnic identity conceptually

can be associated with some psychological aspects

such as psychological wellbeing, either directly or

indirectly related. But empirical evidence for a direct

relationship between ethnic identity and

psychological function is often less than convincing.

Cross (1991) summarizes 45 studies from 1961 to

1984 that examined directly the relationship between

reference group orientation, such as ethnic identity

and personal identity indicators including self-

esteem, anxiety, introversions, and depression. Only

a few studies have reported a very significant

relationship between ethnic identity and self-esteem

(e.g. Stephen and Rosenfield, 1979 in Selllers,

2006), while other studies have reported no

significant relationship between ethnic identity and

self-esteem (e.g. Rosenberg, 1979 in Sellers, 2006).

But some psychological literature confirmed that

ethnic identity has a positive personal disposition.

Identification with larger groups can also provide a

sense of belonging and social support. Thus, ethnic

identity can provide a sense of strength, competence

and self-acceptance to facing a complex social

situation (Outten, et al., 2009; Ruiz, 1990 in Smith

and Sylva, 2011). By definition, high levels of ethnic

identity are generally positively associated with

personal wellbeing. A number of studies have found

a positive relationship between a strong ethnic

identity with indicators in self-esteem and personal

adjustment. For example, a large study (N = 5,423)

in adolescents showed a significant positive

correlation between ethnic identity and various

positive attributes such as problem-solving skills,

mastery of a thing, self-esteem and optimism

(Roberts, et al., 1999, Sylva, 2011). In general, the

results consistently showed a positive relationship

between ethnic identity and various aspects of

personal welfare among ethnic groups (Phinney,

Cantu and Kurtz, 1997 in Smith and Sylva, 2011).

This study used subjects from the dominant

ethnic groups in their respective regions. Based on

the theory of social dominance proposed by

Sidanius, that the stronger the identity of an

individual as a member of a majority ethnic group,

the higher the prejudice to the members of other

ethnic groups. This is supported by studies by Levin,

Sidanius, Rabinowitz and Federico (Wittig, et al.,

2007), which conclude that there was a strong

positive relationship between the strength of one's

ethnic identity and the prejudice of the majority

ethnic group. While in minority ethnic groups,

showing no relation or having a negative

relationship. It can be concluded that the relationship

between ethnic identity and ethnic prejudice shows

varied results; therefore the researcher is interested

in examining the relationship between the two

variables, especially in children of the majority

ethnic group in Bangkalan, Jogjakarta and Medan.

The selection of these three cities was based on the

assumption that they have an interesting relationship

pattern between local ethnic population and Chinese.

Bangkalan was chosen because researchers assumed

that in this region the majority held Islamic customs

and traditions, which were strong enough so that

they were very different from Chinese customs and

traditions. Yogyakarta was chosen because this city

still applied rules that seem discriminate against

Chinese, especially regarding ownership of land

rights. Meanwhile Medan was chosen because it was

considered a multicultural city, which became a

barometer of the existence of inter-ethnic harmony,

so this city had a high acceptance of the existence of

Chinese.

1.1 Hypothesis

Children’s ethnic identity will affect ethnic prejudice

against Chinese in Bangkalan, Jogjakarta and

Medan.

Ethnic Identity and Ethnic Prejudice in Children: A Comparative Study of the Three Cities in Indonesia

209

2 METHODS

The study used a quantitative method with bivariate

Spearman correlation analysis using SPSS version

22.

2.1 Operational Definition

The children’s ethnic prejudice against Chinese is

the tendency of the child to respond with a

disrespectful attitude, having negative evaluation

and emotions towards Chinese.

Ethnic identity is the individual's understanding

of who he/she is, the emotional attachment between

individuals and their groups, the beliefs of being in a

group, and a strong commitment to the group and

together following the same customs.

2.2 Sample

The population in this study was children aged 11-

14 years who live in Bangkalan, Jogjakarta and

Medan. Collecting data was conducted in schools.

The criteria of the school were public schools and

Islamic schools that assumed there weren’t Chinese

students. In total 173 children in Bangkalan, 132 in

Jogjakarta and 148 in Medan.

2.3 Instruments

Ethnic prejudice. The ethnic prejudice scale was

developed from the Pettigrew and Marteens scale

(1995). The original version of this scale has two

dimensions: blatant prejudice and subtle prejudice.

Referring to the adaptation of this scale in some

countries, the authors assumed that Pettigrew and

Meertens’ scale (1995) was unidimensional, so it has

blatant and subtle dimensions. So, in this study

ethnic prejudice was measured using 6 indicators:

perceived economic threat, perceived physical

threat, avoidance of close contact, perceived

problems in adaptation, exaggeration of cultural

differences and the denial of positive emotion. The

scale is a 28-item Likert scale with items answered

on a four-point scale, from strongly agree to strongly

disagree. This scale has a composite reliability =

0.957; CR ≥ 0.70.

Ethnic identity. The scale of ethnic identity was

developed based on the identity theory of Stryker

(1987 in Scottham, Sellers and Nguyen, 2008). This

ethnic identity scale was originally developed by

Sellers et al. (1998 in Byrd, 2011) called

Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity

(MIBI). This scale has three dimensions of ethnic

identity: Centrality, Regard, and Ideology. The scale

is a 20-item Likert scale with items answered on a

four-point scale from strongly agree to strongly

disagree. This scale has a composite reliability =

0.933; CR ≥ 0.70.

3 RESULTS

The results of the analysis are presented in Table 1

presenting correlation between ethnic identity and

ethnic prejudice. Bangkalan showed a negative

relation between ethnic identity and ethnic prejudice

with r = -.172 (p = .023; p < .05); Yogjakarta

showed similar results with r = -.26 (p = .002; p

<.05). While at Medan the correlation was r2 = -.094

(p = .258; p> .05), because the analysis indicated

was not significant so it can be concluded that in

Medan there is no relationship between ethnic

identity and a child’s ethnic prejudice. In addition to

the results above, this study also compared the

strength of the correlation coefficient between the

samples in Bangkalan and Yogyakarta using

Fisher’s R to Z transformation. Correlation

coefficient in Bangkalan Z = -0.17 was stronger than

Yogyakarta Z = -0.27.

4 DISCUSSION

It is assumed that social conflicts (ethnic, racial and

religious) in Indonesia often involve Chinese as one

of the minority ethnic groups. In this case, Chinese

are often used as scapegoats for the bad situations in

Indonesia. The relationship between Chinese and

majority ethnics in Indonesia seems like the embers

Table 1: The correlation and descriptive data of the variables

City Bivariate Co

relation

Ethnic Identit

Ethnic Pre

udice

Mean SD Mean SD

Ban

kalan r = -.172 (p = .023 ; p < .05) 173 65.433 8.586 60.659 6.544

akarta r = -.266 (p = .002 ; p < .05) 132 65.510 6.358 61.690 9.639

Medan r = -.094 (p = .258 ; p > .05) 148 62.040 10.360 69.385 7.620

ICP-HESOS 2018 - International Conference on Psychology in Health, Educational, Social, and Organizational Settings

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in the chaff even since in the Dutch colonial era. So,

it is very interesting to study ethnic prejudice of

children who come from the ethnic majority to

Chinese in the present time. This study was to

explore the relationship between ethnic identity with

children’s ethnic prejudices against Chinese. First, it

must be stressed that the data presented is

correlational and consequently cannot address the

question of causality.

In line with the concepts, the results of this study

also concluded a similar view. More specifically,

this study examined the relationship between ethnic

identity with children’s ethnic prejudice in

Bangkalan, Yogyakarta and Medan. The results

show slightly different trends but generally show the

same results. In Bangkalan and Yogyakarta they

showed a significant negative relationship between

ethnic identity and ethnic prejudice, while Medan

showed a negative relationship but it was not

significant. In general, this study concluded that

there is a negative relationship between ethnic

identity and ethnic prejudice in children. This means

that the stronger the ethnic identity of a child, the

lower their ethnic prejudice and vice versa. In this

context it can be assumed that a person's ethnic

identity has a major influence on how they perceive

others, their self-esteem, aspirations, motivation and

effort expended in various aspects of their lives

(Smith, et al., 1999 in Salmeri and Pellerone, 2015).

In this case a child with a high ethnic identity will be

able to assess the issues related to ethnicity more

positively as well. Ethnicity in this case is a series of

dynamics derived from history, institutionalized

ideas and practices that: (1) enable people to identify

or be identified as a group of people who are

assumed to have similarities in language, history,

nation or region of origin, customs, life, religion,

name, physical appearance, and/or genealogy or

ancestry; (2) can be a source of meaning, action and

identity; and (3) a conferred sense of belonging,

pride and motivation (Markus, 2008). So those who

have a high ethnic identity will be able to understand

the concept of ethnicity, including the ethnicity of

other groups. Thus, they are able to demonstrate a

positive attitude and appreciate the presence of other

ethnics around them, to minimize the attitudes of

ethnic prejudice. As explained earlier, ethnic identity

can affect both positively and negatively and

prejudice depends on several factors. Some of these

factors are (a) the strength level of ingroup identity,

(b) the threat that outgroups have ingroup identity

(called outgroup threats), and (c) social norms in

ingroups (Killen & Rutland, 2011, Nesdale, Durkin

et al., 2005). The strength of ingroup identity is

important because not all individuals consider

membership of a group as important; therefore, the

importance of identity for a person varies according

to the context (Bennett, 2004, Bennett and Sani,

2008, Steele, Spencer and Aronson, 2002 in Killen

et al., 2015).

In addition, developmental researchers

concluded that the bias against the group was due to

the type of norms applied. If the norm in the group

has a morally wrong perspective, as the group acts in

an unfair manner, then favoritism towards ingroups

will not appear (Killen, et al., 2001 in Killen et al.,

2015). In the literature of children and adults, it also

shows that to inhibit the occurrence of group bias

was often associated with an assessment of group

goals and norms that apply in groups (Abrams, et al.,

2008, Devine, et al., 2002 in Killen et al., 2015). As

another example, if the group norm reflects the

attitude of prejudice, then the group members who

reject this norm may be considered disloyal to the

group but are faithful to the norm of justice or

equality. The study of social and developmental

perspectives based on social identity theory

suggests, when studying the development of

intergroup attitudes, it is important to measure the

meaning of identity, the power of outside threats and

the type of norm (moral, social, psychological)

identified to the group in order to understand the

emergence of prejudice.

So, based on that theory it may be the subject of

this study, especially in Bangkalan and Yogyakarta

where they feel that as the majority ethnicity they do

not feel threatened by the presence of other ethnics,

feeling quite confident that they will able to deal

with any social situation without feeling anxious

with the presence of other groups. So, they do not

need to show negative attitudes toward other ethnic

groups. In addition, the subject of this study may

have taught about social norms that refer to moral

values in general such as mutual respect and fairness

to everyone. This is in line with the opinion of

Crocker and Luhtanen (1990 in Masson and

Verkuyten, 1993), that prejudice will depend on

group norms, so they are not related to how they

connect with ethnic minorities but connect with

traditions that include prejudice values so that leads

to the formation of prejudice. So, the implications of

this research are very important to develop strong

ethnic identity in children through the indicators of

ethnic identity used in this research - centrality,

regard and ideology. Therefore, it is important for

relevant parties such as in family and school

environments as a child’s microsystem to develop a

positive ethnic identity. Because if schools do not

Ethnic Identity and Ethnic Prejudice in Children: A Comparative Study of the Three Cities in Indonesia

211

consistently facilitate the development of a positive

identity for all their students, including ethnic/racial

identity, then there will be negative consequences

(Pellerone, 2012, in Salmeri and Pellerone, 2015).

Researchers chose Yogyakarta because this city

still applies rules that tend to be discriminatory

about the status of land ownership of Chinese

citizens in Yogyakarta. On this rule the Governor of

Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengkubawono XI was

once sued in court by one of the ethnic Chinese

descendants. In 1975, Paku Alam VIII issued a letter

of instruction to the Regents and Mayors not to

deliver land titles to non-indigenous citizens. The

instruction letter permits the citizens of offspring to

own the land with the right to use the building status

(HGB), not the property rights (SHM). If the land

was previously owned by the indigenous people then

it was bought by the descendants, then the land

ownership status will be transferred to the state. In

the process, a person who has "a face of a

descendant" must give birth certificates, marriage

certificates and parents' birth certificates to obtain

land rights to prove they are not Chinese citizens.

The existence of rules that seem discriminative will

be vulnerable to trigger of inter-ethnic conflict.

Therefore, the researcher assumed that in

Yogyakarta acceptance of Chinese is still not

complete, in turn this will have an impact on the

development of prejudice against Chinese.

Social psychology theories suggest that

discrimination is one of the effects of prejudice.

Even other theories reveal that discrimination is a

form of prejudice. The existence of rules that are

considered to be discriminatory for a particular

group is the result of prejudice. As previously stated,

the regulation that prohibits Chinese from having

rights to land in Yogyakarta stems from an attempt

to equalize indigenous rights (the term at the time)

so as not to be dominated by Chinese who were then

considered powerful investors who could master the

economy of Yogyakarta. The assumption that

Chinese are economic ruling groups should be

limited, teaching the next generations that the group

could be a source of threat to the survival of

indigenous communities. This feeling of being

threatened will keep one's distance from the sources

that threaten it. The theory of prejudice suggests that

most threatened groups are regarded as the most

prejudiced group. However, the results of a study

showing a negative relationship between ethnic

identity and child ethnic prejudices in Yogyakarta

showed that although originating from the ethnic

majority this does not mean the children show their

prejudice to Chinese. Perhaps these discriminatory

implications are regarded as the "legacy" that must

be followed without need to understand in depth the

history behind the rules. It is also possible that

children in Yogyakarta are not aware of the rules, so

it can’t affect their attitudes towards Chinese.

Meanwhile, a different situation occurred in

Bangkalan. At first the researchers assumed that

Madura is an island dominated by the Madurese, so

there are not many Chinese living on that island. But

it turns out that Chinese also live on this island but

most of them live in Sumenep. While in Bangkalan

there are also areas that include Chinese. The

Chinese in Bangkalan live in a village called

"Kampung Pecinan Demangan" because in that

village the majority are Chinese (Adomatussa and

Warsono, 2017). The Chinese and Madurese in this

area have a significant difference in terms of

religion, culture, economy and lifestyle. However,

there conflict between the two ethnic groups in the

area was rare. However, the concentration of

Chinese in one area illustrates the separation of

territories inhabited by the Chinese in Bangkalan.

That condition may have occurred since the

Dutch era, where the separation between Chinese

and local people is a strategy by the Dutch to create

a boundary between the two ethnic groups.

Unfortunately, this situation continues to the next

generations. This situation is clearly different from

that in Surabaya (as a city near to Bangkalan), where

Chinese are not concentrated in one area but have

spread with local communities in almost all areas of

Surabaya. This can continue because Chinese may

feel that they have a feeling of the concept of

environmental psychology called attachment to the

place, which is a condition where one feels

attachment to the place of residence so as to feel

reluctant to move elsewhere. The concentration of

Chinese ultimately made the confounding process

only happen in the region, so people in other areas

rarely or even never mixed with Chinese. The

Madurese are known to have strong and familiar

characters. The Madurese have a very distinctive

and special culture that makes them unlike other

ethnic communities in terms of language,

submission, courage and submission to the four

main figures in life. The four figures are Buppa',

Babbu', Guru, Rato tires (father, mother, teacher and

leader in government). Madura is also a largely

inhabited island (approximately 97-99%) Muslim.

So that Madura appeared characteristic of Islam,

especially in the actualization of obedience to the

normative teachings of their religion (Adomatussa

and Warsono, 2017). The existence of strong

adherence to the norms and rules that apply to affect

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212

patterns of relations developed Madurese especially

in this case with Chinese. So even though they have

a strong ethnic identity, the attitudes of prejudice

shown tend to be low. Along with this research

results from Adomatussa and Warsono (2017) show

that ethnic Madurese openness to Chinese can be

seen at the time of religious events, marriages,

participation during disasters, congratulation at the

holiday and participating in some activity, freedom

of worship, tadarrus activity during the month of

ramadhan and during the event of the Prophet's

mawlid. So, in the city conflict is relatively rare

between the two.

Another result of this study concludes that there

is no relationship between ethnic identity and

children’s ethnic prejudice in Medan. Medan is one

of the multicultural cities with various ethnic and

racial groups (Tionghoa and India). In general, the

subjects in this study come from various ethnic

groups namely Malay, Batak, Padang and Aceh.

Thus, it seems that children in this city are already

familiar with the diversity. What is interesting that

researchers found in this city was that each ethnic

and racial group can co-exist without being

disturbed by the presence of each other. This

reflected in daily activities, showing that each ethnic

and racial group lived life in a way that was taught

by their culture without the need to force other

ethnic groups to behave similarly to them. For

example, Chinese can freely use Mandarin as their

everyday language; ethnic Indians can also perform

common rituals in their culture without fear of

feeling different from other local ethnicities. Again,

this proved that in the context of ethnic prejudice,

the important factor is not just how much interethnic

contact there is, but the main thing is how the

prevailing social culture and norms teach positive

moral values. Maybe each of these ethnic groups has

rare interethnic contact, but this does not necessarily

make them feel negative or prejudiced against other

ethnic groups. However, it is necessary to be careful

in understanding these results. There are two reasons

why it is necessary to be careful in understanding the

absence of a relationship between ethnic identity and

ethnic prejudice in children in Medan. First, it is

possible that the conditions present suggest a

relatively stable hierarchy of status among groups,

so the dominant group may not be openly prejudice

(Hogg, Abrams and Patel, 1987 in Masson and

Verkuyten, 1993). Secondly, there is a "modern" or

"symbolic" approach of racism (McConahay and

Hough, 1976 in Masson and Verkuyten, 1993) that it

is impossible in a modern era to be prejudiced or

express an overt attitude in degrading ethnic

minorities. This is because of the social norm that

prohibits them from openly showing negative

attitudes toward other ethnic groups. But it is not

immediately to assume that prejudice has been lost

in the modern era, because ethnic prejudice can

present in other ways, in more subtle forms as

conceptualized by Meertens and Pettigrew (1995) as

a blatant and subtle prejudice.

This study also shows that the correlation

between the two variables in the sample in

Bangkalan is stronger than the sample in

Yogyakarta. The strong ethnic identity of the

children in Bangkalan, which has developed with

strong cultural and religious backgrounds, has given

Bangkalan’s children a strong belief in their own

ethnic groups. As explained earlier this strong ethnic

identity makes individuals develop a more positive

perspective on aspects of their lives. This is what

makes Bangkalan children have a more positive

view of the presence of other ethnic groups, as long

as the presence of other ethnic groups does not

interfere with religion and honor. Perhaps this was

truly understood by the Chinese in their relationship

with the Bangkalan community. This gave a positive

experience for children in Bangkalan, and later

influenced their perceptions of Chinese.

5 CONCLUSION

The study concluded that there is a negative

relationship between ethnic identity and a child’s

ethnic prejudice. A negative relationship between

two variables occurred in two cities Bangkalan and

Yogyakarta. This means that the stronger the ethnic

identity of a child, the lower the ethnic prejudice and

vice versa. However, in Medan the results show

differently, in other words there is no relationship

between ethnic identity and ethnic prejudice.

However, in general, the results of this study

indicate that one effort to eliminate prejudice,

especially in multicultural countries like Indonesia,

is by strengthening the ethnic identity of children.

This can be done through the process of

socialization of the family, school and the

environment around the children. In the future, it is

hoped that similar research can also be conducted in

other areas by considering the weakness of this

research. For example, the selection of subjects

could be more representative, using a more

comprehensive statistical analysis and adding other

variables such as parents’ ethnic socialization, self-

esteem, peers, school climate, group norms, that may

affect directly or indirectly the prejudice so that the

Ethnic Identity and Ethnic Prejudice in Children: A Comparative Study of the Three Cities in Indonesia

213

picture of the prejudice development will be more

comprehensive. The contribution of this research is

that to eliminate prejudice in children we need to

strengthen their ethnic identity, make them feel

proud of the ethnicity they have so they can see the

existence of other ethnic groups as more equal.

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