Adolescents’ Openness to Include Refugee Peers in Their Leisure Time Activities

Background: Against the backdrop of increasing refugee movements, the integration of refugees is becoming a more and more relevant topic for many European countries. As integration is a bidirectional process, the current study examines the openness of adolescents in Germany to include refugee peers...

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Main Authors: Hanna Beißert, Kelly Lynn Mulvey, Meike Bonefeld
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Social Sciences
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/5/309
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author Hanna Beißert
Kelly Lynn Mulvey
Meike Bonefeld
author_facet Hanna Beißert
Kelly Lynn Mulvey
Meike Bonefeld
author_sort Hanna Beißert
collection DOAJ
description Background: Against the backdrop of increasing refugee movements, the integration of refugees is becoming a more and more relevant topic for many European countries. As integration is a bidirectional process, the current study examines the openness of adolescents in Germany to include refugee peers from Syria in leisure time activities. Methods: Participants were presented with a hypothetical scenario in which they had to choose who of two peers (a German peer or a refugee peer from Syria) they would include in their activity. Additionally, we varied the relevant skills of the two protagonists to investigate the role of group functioning aspects for inclusion decisions. Three measures were applied: (1) adolescents’ own decisions, (2) what they expected their peer group to do, and (3) what they thought their peer group should do. Results: The findings demonstrate that the participants were generally very open to include refugees and that the protagonists’ skills were relevant for their decisions, though much more for the expected group decision than for adolescents’ own decisions. Reasoning analyses illustrate adolescents’ considerations for these decisions. Conclusion: This research helps to clarify the interplay of moral considerations and aspects of group functioning in adolescents’ inclusion decisions regarding refugee peers.
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spelling doaj-art-183458306ccd4c3ca30c9db539411d012025-08-20T03:12:12ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602025-05-0114530910.3390/socsci14050309Adolescents’ Openness to Include Refugee Peers in Their Leisure Time ActivitiesHanna Beißert0Kelly Lynn Mulvey1Meike Bonefeld2Department of Teacher and Teaching Quality, DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, GermanySocial Development Lab, Department of Psychology, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8101, USACenter for Research on Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA), Rostocker Str. 6, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, GermanyBackground: Against the backdrop of increasing refugee movements, the integration of refugees is becoming a more and more relevant topic for many European countries. As integration is a bidirectional process, the current study examines the openness of adolescents in Germany to include refugee peers from Syria in leisure time activities. Methods: Participants were presented with a hypothetical scenario in which they had to choose who of two peers (a German peer or a refugee peer from Syria) they would include in their activity. Additionally, we varied the relevant skills of the two protagonists to investigate the role of group functioning aspects for inclusion decisions. Three measures were applied: (1) adolescents’ own decisions, (2) what they expected their peer group to do, and (3) what they thought their peer group should do. Results: The findings demonstrate that the participants were generally very open to include refugees and that the protagonists’ skills were relevant for their decisions, though much more for the expected group decision than for adolescents’ own decisions. Reasoning analyses illustrate adolescents’ considerations for these decisions. Conclusion: This research helps to clarify the interplay of moral considerations and aspects of group functioning in adolescents’ inclusion decisions regarding refugee peers.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/5/309inclusionrefugeesSyriaadolescents
spellingShingle Hanna Beißert
Kelly Lynn Mulvey
Meike Bonefeld
Adolescents’ Openness to Include Refugee Peers in Their Leisure Time Activities
Social Sciences
inclusion
refugees
Syria
adolescents
title Adolescents’ Openness to Include Refugee Peers in Their Leisure Time Activities
title_full Adolescents’ Openness to Include Refugee Peers in Their Leisure Time Activities
title_fullStr Adolescents’ Openness to Include Refugee Peers in Their Leisure Time Activities
title_full_unstemmed Adolescents’ Openness to Include Refugee Peers in Their Leisure Time Activities
title_short Adolescents’ Openness to Include Refugee Peers in Their Leisure Time Activities
title_sort adolescents openness to include refugee peers in their leisure time activities
topic inclusion
refugees
Syria
adolescents
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/5/309
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