Hate speech in adolescents: A binational study on prevalence and demographic differences

Abstract

Hate speech, or intentional derogatory expressions about people based on assigned group characteristics, has been studied primarily in online contexts. Less is known about the occurrence of this phenomenon in schools. As it has negative consequences for victims, perpetrators, and those who witness it, it is crucial to characterize the occurrence of offline (i.e., in the school) and online hate speech to describe similarities and differences between these two socialization contexts. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of hate speech witnessing, victimization, and perpetration, in a sample of 3,620 7–9th graders (51% self-identified as female) from 42 schools in Germany and Switzerland. We found that 67% of the students witnessed hate speech in their school, and 65% witnessed online hate speech at least once in the past 12 months. Approximately 21% of the students self-identified as offline perpetrators and 33% as offline victims, whereas these percentages were lower for online hate speech (13 and 20%, respectively). In both settings, skin color and origin were the most common group references for hate speech (50% offline and 63% online). Offline hate speech mainly came from classmates (88%), unknown sources (e.g., graffiti; 19%), or teachers (12%), whereas online hate speech mostly came from unknown persons (77%). The most frequent forms of offline hate speech were offensive jokes (94%) and the spread of lies and rumors about the members of a specific social group (84%). Significant differences by country, gender, and migration background were observed. Girls reported more offline victimization experiences, less perpetration, and a greater frequency of witnessing hate speech. This difference was larger in magnitude in the online setting. Students in Switzerland reported being exposed to hate speech more often than students in Germany. Students with a migration background reported higher hate speech victimization based on skin color and origin than students without a migration background. The high prevalence of hate speech highlights the need for school-based prevention programs. Our findings are discussed in terms of the practical implications.

Validation of the multidimensional bystander responses to racist hate speech scale and its association with empathy and moral disengagement among adolescents

“…In one study among German adolescents, around 65% of the participants reported witnessing hate speech in schools at least once within 12 months (Castellanos, Wettstein, Wachs, Kansok-Dusche, et al, 2023).…”

“…Hate speech can be defined as any derogatory expression (e.g., words, posts, images, videos) expressed to cause harm to people (directly or vicariously) based on actual or assigned group characteristics (e.g., ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation; Kansok‐Dusche et al, 2022). The most common targets of hate speech in German schools are people from ethnic minorities and with immigrant background (Castellanos, Wettstein, Wachs, Kansok‐Dusche, et al, 2023). Therefore, we will focus on racist hate speech in this study.…”

“…In one study among German adolescents, around 65% of the participants reported witnessing hate speech in schools at least once within 12 months (Castellanos, Wettstein, Wachs, Kansok‐Dusche, et al, 2023). And yet, hate speech research has focused solely on the reactions of adolescents who became targets of hate speech.…”

“…from ethnic minorities and with immigrant background (Castellanos, Wettstein, Wachs, Kansok-Dusche, et al, 2023). Therefore, we will focus on racist hate speech in this study.…”

Direct and indirect effects of social dominance orientation on hate speech perpetration via empathy and moral disengagement among adolescents: A multilevel mediation model

“…Although previous studies support that men score higher than women on social dominance orientation in adulthood (Sidanius et al, 2017; Zubielevitch et al, 2023), this gender difference is not present in childhood and adolescence (Pan et al, 2020; Volk et al, 2021). Furthermore, girls show higher levels of empathy, especially on its affective component (Farrell & Vaillancourt, 2021; Garandeau et al, 2022), lower levels of moral disengagement (Falla et al, 2021), and less frequency of online (Wachs et al, 2021) and offline hate speech perpetration (Castellanos et al, 2023; Kansok‐Dusche et al, 2023). Regarding the association among these characteristics, studies show that boys exhibit stronger associations between social dominance orientation and physical aggression (Gumpel & Gotdiner, 2023), moral disengagement (Gumpel & Gotdiner, 2023), and bullying (Pan et al, 2020).…”