Kindergarten children’s attitudes towards homosexuality: The influence of puppet theatre on the topic of diversity in a group of kindergarten children

in Human Arenas (2023)

Homophobic stigmas and the discrimination of homosexual people are still worrying in today’s society. The current study seeks to investigate kindergarten children’s attitudes towards homosexuality and how ... [more ▼]

Homophobic stigmas and the discrimination of homosexual people are still worrying in today’s society. The current study seeks to investigate kindergarten children’s attitudes towards homosexuality and how they are influenced by their peer-groups and authorities. It does so by means of a puppet theatre presentation including ‘Kasperl’ and ‘Seppel’ puppets as the main protagonists in a German puppet theatre. The audience consisted of six German kindergarten children aged 4–6 years, randomly selected by the kindergarten director. A participant observation has been conducted with the first researcher as the presenter of the puppet show. The results of the recorded puppet theatre showed that several intragroup processes including the social identity theory with regard to group membership could be observed within the puppet theatre. Groups have been formed and children of the same ingroup showed equal attitudes towards homosexuality. However, the researcher’s influence as an authority figure could have as well impacted their attitudes through positive reinforcement. The present study contributed to the gap in research regarding kindergarten children’s attitudes towards homosexuality. To have a better overview of the results, future studies should include additional variables like kindergarten’s cultural and geographical differences. [less ▲]

Exploring Cultural Identity in a Multicultural Context—the Special Case of Luxembourg

in Human Arenas (2020), online first

In light of globalization and increased cultural diversity, the question of cultural identity becomes particularly salient in many societies today. Whereas most studies have concentrated on cultural ... [more ▼]

In light of globalization and increased cultural diversity, the question of cultural identity becomes particularly salient in many societies today. Whereas most studies have concentrated on cultural identity of immigrants, less is known about the identity constructions of non-immigrants and receiving country nationals living in a multicultural setting. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg with a foreign population of 48% provides an excellent example case here. The present study examined the cultural identity of two generations of native Luxembourgers, drawing on a content analysis of qualitative interviews with N = 18 participants belonging to nine family dyads, each composed of one (young) adult child and one parent. As Luxembourg’s cultural diversity has increased continuously in the last decades, we focussed here on similarities and differences between (young) adults and their parents in order to find out in how far age (i.e., different points in the individual life span) or generation (i.e., growing up in different times and historical contexts) might be highlighted in their cultural identity constructions. Five main domains pertaining to Luxembourger’s cultural identity were found through qualitative content analysis: ‘the Luxembourgish language’, ‘Belongingness to Luxembourg and the love for Luxembourg as a homeland’, ‘Europeanization and multiculturalism in Luxembourg’, ‘Representing Luxembourg as a native in international contexts’ and ‘Luxembourgish traditions and history’. While the older generation focused more on the feeling of belongingness to their home country, the younger generation made more specific links to Europe and multiculturalism. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed. [less ▲]