Individual and Contextual Influences of War on Ethnic Prejudice in Croatia

This article examines what the determinants of ethnic prejudice in Croatia were in the aftermath of the 1991–1995 war. The analysis is based on a nationwide survey (N = 2,202) conducted in March and April 1996, less than a year after the cessation of war activities in Croatia. The main focus of our analysis is on how war influences the ethnic prejudice of individuals. The influences of individual war-related experiences and the effects of regional differences in the level of war activities are analyzed simultaneously by conducting a multilevel analysis. The main findings are that individual war-related experiences have little impact on prejudice, but that the contextual influence of war is somewhat stronger. Variables that are not directly related to the conflict—such as education, religiosity and size of the place of residence—have the strongest effect on prejudice. Insofar as our results can be generalized to other large-scale ethnic conflicts, they indicate that a recent history of conflict is not in itself a major hindrance to the process of ethnic reconciliation.