SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Personality and Social Psychology
Intergroup relations and dynamics of (dis)integration between youth with immigrant and non-immigrant origins: A scoping review
Provisionally accepted
- University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
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In light of growing societal diversity, gaining a deeper understanding of intergroup relations is increasingly crucial for fostering inclusive and cohesive communities. This scoping review synthesizes research on immigrant and non-immigrant young people's perceptions and experiences of intergroup relations and (dis)integration. Analyzing 46 studies conducted between 2010 and 2023 through qualitative content analysis identified that intergroup contact theory and social identity theory are the dominant frameworks with quantitative methods being the most common. Seventeen thematic categories were produced, with the top four being 1) social exclusion/inclusion, 2) cultural/ethnic identity, 3) intergroup contact, and 4) attitudes. While offering insights into young people's perceptions of interethnic encounters, the review highlights gaps in empirical, methodological, and theoretical diversity. Future research is encouraged to expand existing frameworks, integrate qualitative and mixed-method approaches, and focus more on real-world intergroup and interethnic encounter settings, that potentially enhances understanding of youth meaning-making in diverse ethnic contexts. Focusing on schools as key contexts for intergroup encounters, this review highlights the need to support integrative practices and incorporate cross-cultural after-school programs to enhance educational inclusion.
Keywords: Educational environments, immigrant, interethnic encounters, intergroup relations, integration, non-immigrant, Youth
Received: 07 Aug 2025; Accepted: 05 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lötjönen, Farahani, Martikainen and Nissinen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hadi Farahani, hadi.farahani@uef.fi
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