What's the PVV got to do with it? A study on the effects of perceived popularity of right populist parties on the formation of self-esteem of Dutch immigrant adolescents.

Abstract

In the contemporary debate on self-esteem, the emphasis lies among other things on public attitudes. Less is known about the correlation between the political climate on self-esteem, in particular on immigrant adolescents. Since the beginning of the century, the political climate in the Netherlands has become more right-ish, while at the same time more immigrants than before have sought for a residence permits in the Netherlands. In this study, an online quasi-experiment was conducted to investigate how perceived popularity of the PVV can lead to a decrease of self-esteem for immigrant adolescents. An ANCOVA reveals that, controlling for age, this correlation does not exist. The same analysis also shows that the religious background of the respondent does not affect this relationship. Therefore, the relationship between political climate and self-esteem of immigrant adolescents cannot be confirmed. The results contribute to a broader understanding of the development of self-esteem on immigrant adolescents by providing new insights on this topic. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.