Relationship of group belongings, inter-group relations, perception of discrimination and values of Turkish and Armenian youth

The purpose of this study is to examine the perception of legitimacy and stability of relationship between Turkish and Armenian youths, their feelings of belonging to their groups, their perception of whether their group is discriminated against or not, the quality and quantity of contact with other groups based on theories of social identity, contact and values theories. The adolescents with an average age of 16.66 who are in an important period of internalizing the group norms and values constitute the respondents of this research. The total number of participants is 168, 105 of which are Turkish high school and 63 of them are Armenian high school students. Firstly, the participants were given a Demographic Data Form, Social Identity Scale, Perceived Discrimination Scale, Social Relationship Scale, Portrait Values Scale to be answered during the class hours after the consent form and the purpose of study were read in the classroom. The data were analyzed using the SPSS program. Kolmogorov-Simirnov test was used to determine normal distribution of scores. Mann Whitney U test and t-test were used for comparison of two groups, Pearson Correlation Test was used to find out the relationship between the scales of the two groups, Linear Regression Test was used to examine for the variables that were correlated. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the Turkish youth have a significantly higher score on the the significance of the identity as a sub-scale of social identity and public identity compared to the Armenian youth. When we look at other findings in our study, differences between perceived discrimination, social relations characteristics and values were statistically different between Turks and Armenians.