Stereotypes and social distance of Zadar University students towards Roma

Iako se položaj Roma sa godinama poboljšao, mnogobrojna istraživanja o Romima pokazuju da su oni još uvijek neprihvaćena i diskriminirana etnička manjina u hrvatskom društvu. Stoga je cilj ovog rada bio izmjeriti intenzitet i postojanje socijalne distance i etničkih stereotipa te povezanost istih sa ideološko-svjetonazorskim stavovima kao i sociodemografskim karakteristikama studenata druge godine preddiplomskog studija Sveučilišta u Zadra prema Romima kako bi se vidjeli multi/interkulturalni stavovi istih. Za potrebe rada provedeno je anketno istraživanje na uzorku od 210 studenata koji su odabrani na temelju studijske grupe. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da među studentskom populacijom u Zadru i dalje postoji visoka razina socijalne distance prema Romima. Međutim studenti koji studiraju društveno-humanističke znanosti, politički se lijevo orijentiraju ili imaju poznanika/prijatelja među romskom etničkom manjinom pokazuju manju razinu socijalne distance kao i manje negativnih stereotipa prema Romima. Suprotno od očekivanog, religioznost se nije pokazala kao bitnim faktorom u mjerenju razine socijalne distance te stereotipa prema Romima među studentima.Although the position of Roma has improved over time, many researches on Roma show that they are still unaccepted and discriminated ethnic minority in the Croatian society. Therefore, the aim of this study was to measure the intensity and the existence of social distance and ethnic stereotypes and their connections to the ideological worldview attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics of the second year undergraduate students at the University of Zadar towards Roma in order to see their multi/intercultural attitudes. For the purpose of this work, a survey was conducted on the sample of 210 students selected on the study group basis. The research results show that among the population of students in Zadar, still remains a high level of social distance towards Roma. However, students who study humanities and social sciences, are politically oriented left or have an acquaintance/a friend among the Roma ethnic minority show a lower level of social distance as well as less negative stereotypes towards Roma. On the contrary to the expected, religiosity wasnt shown as a significant element in measuring the level of social distance and stereotypes towards Roma among students