ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how Hungarian teenagers perceive Hungary as an ethnically and culturally divided society, and what kind of emotions, recognition, stereotypes or attitudes they have toward minorities. It examines the knowledge and attitudes of only one age cohort, final-year secondary-school students aged 18–19. The empirical basis of the analysis is a 1996 representative survey among final-year students in more than hundred secondary schools. The survey was the last in a series of projects intended to gather relevant and comprehensive information on the political socialisation and civic culture of the generation whose socialisation occurred primarily after the collapse of state socialism. The level of xenophobia among secondary school students and their attitudes toward different minority groups living in Hungary are strongly interrelated. Principal component analyses revealed one latent variable identifiable as a measure for nationalism. High positive scores indicate a high level of nationalism. The chapter discusses significant differences in factor scores on nationalism and multiculturalism.
