L Leszczensky
Biographic Data
| ID | 20220 |
|---|---|
| NAME | L Leszczensky |
| GIVEN NAMES | L |
| FAMILY NAME | Leszczensky |
| SIGNATURE | LESZCZENSKY L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Mannheim |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3393-5040 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 283 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Opportunities and challenges of using targeted advertisements on social media to sample ethnoreligious minorities
Targeted ads on social media allow researchers to recruit hard-to-reach or small populations such as ethnoreligious minorities. Seeking to guide researchers in dealing with the corresponding opportunities and challenges, we address three questions. First, how to define targeting criteria for ads aimed at recruiting ethnoreligious minorities on social media? Second, how costly is the recruitment of ethnoreligious minorities? Third, to what extent …
Endogamy norms and the gendered friendship-making of Muslim youth
Recent research among European Muslims finds that adolescent Muslim girls make more in-group friends and fewer out-group friends than Muslim boys. Researchers have suggested this to reflect gendered endogamy norms that complicate Muslim girls' out-group friendships, but a test of this explanation is missing. In this study, we investigate the role of endogamy norms while also considering potential alternative explanations, such as religiosity, exp…
Stable or dynamic? Explaining the development of Muslim and non-Muslim boys' and girls' friendship-making across adolescence
Strong ties, strong homophily? Variation in homophily on sociodemographic characteristics by relationship strength
Social networks are segregated by sociodemographic characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, religion, and socioeconomic status. A key reason for this segregation is homophily, or people's preferences to associate with similar others. Homophily is documented for relationships of different strengths, ranging from marriage and close friendship to weaker acquaintanceships. But does sociodemographic homophily vary by relationship strength? While mos…
Differences in stated attitudes vs. realised friendships among Jews vis-à-vis Arabs in Israel
Previous research has documented differences in majority attitudes towards minority groups. However, there is a lack of research on (1) how attitudes towards minorities differ among majority subgroups, and (2) how attitudinal differences relate to interpersonal relationships between majority and minority members. This article investigates whether Jewish university students from two majority subgroups in Israel – Ashkenazim (European lineage, high…
Religion, Gender, and the Development of Leisure Time Activities from Adolescence to Young Adulthood
Previous research shows that Muslim girls in Western societies are less likely to do sports than both Muslim boys and non-Muslims of either gender. But we know little about whether other leisure time activities also differ by religion and gender and whether these patterns change during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. In this data visualization, we use large-scale representative data from Germany to show how 13 leisure time act…
How gendered religious norms contribute to the emerging gender gap in Muslim youths’ interreligious friendships
Recent research finds that Muslim girls increasingly have in-group friendships in adolescence, while Muslim boys remain more open to interreligious friendships. This gender gap mirrors established findings of female Muslims’ lower involvement in interreligious romantic relationships, which is attributed to gendered religious norms. In this study, we examine whether gendered religious norms also contribute to the emerging gender gap in Muslim yout…
How to Deal With Reverse Causality Using Panel Data? Recommendations for Researchers Based on a Simulation Study
Does X affect Y? Answering this question is particularly difficult if reverse causality is looming. Many social scientists turn to panel data to address such questions of causal ordering. Yet even in longitudinal analyses, reverse causality threatens causal inference based on conventional panel models. Whereas the methodological literature has suggested various alternative solutions, these approaches face many criticisms, chief among them to be s…
Studying Youth' Group Identities, Intergroup Relations, and Friendship Networks
This data brief introduces the Friendship and Identity in School (FIS) dataset. The FIS data are school-based longitudinal social network data, which have become increasingly important in recent years. Including information on 2,500 adolescents in nine secondary schools in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the FIS data have four important key features that make them uniquely suited for studying the co-evolution of friendship net…
Religious friendship preferences of Muslim and non-Muslim students in German schools
In-Group Bias or Out-Group Reluctance? The Interplay of Gender and Religion in Creating Religious Friendship Segregation among Muslim Youth
Even in diverse schools that provide opportunities for interreligious friendships, Muslim youth disproportionally tend to be friends with Muslims rather than non-Muslims. Echoing broader debates about minorities’ self-segregation versus exclusion by majority group members, a key question is whether religious friendship segregation arises because of Muslims’ in-group bias or because of non-Muslims’ reluctance to befriend them. We suggest that the …
Are Birds of a Feather Praying Together? Assessing Friends’ Influence on Muslim Youths’ Religiosity in Germany
Muslim religiosity is often portrayed as a barrier to integration into secular societies, especially in Europe. Scholars suggest that religiously segregated networks reinforce Muslims’ religiosity and religious identification, but solid evidence is scarce. Based on longitudinal German data, we examined whether friendship networks influence Muslim youths’ religiosity. Using stochastic actor-oriented models, we also assessed whether religiosity in …
Changes in Turkish- and Resettler-origin Adolescents’ Acculturation Profiles of Identification
Little is known on how ethnic minority adolescents develop acculturation profiles of identification (i.e., how they combine their ethnic and national identification, such as being high on both and thus rather “integrated” or high on ethnic and low on national and thus rather “separated”). In a first step, this 3-year longitudinal study classified Turkish ( n = 344) and resettler-origin ( n = 121) ethnic minority adolescents living in Germany ( M …
Identity threat and identity multiplicity among minority youth
The notion that ethnic and religious minority identities are inherently incompatible with the national identities of European immigrant‐receiving societies is popular in public discourse. Although findings documenting such negative associations seemingly support this claim, other research shows that the intergroup context matters for the extent to which minorities’ ethnic and religious identities are conflicting (i.e., negatively associated) or c…
The Interplay of Group Identifications and Friendships
This article reviews empirical evidence on the reciprocal relation of ethnic minority group members’ national, ethnic, and dual identification on the one hand and their friendships with both minority and majority group members on the other. Emphasis is given to studies that apply longitudinal social network analysis in order to draw inferences about how these group identifications shape social relations and/or how social relations in turn shape i…
What Drives Ethnic Homophily? A Relational Approach on How Ethnic Identification Moderates Preferences for Same-Ethnic Friends
Individual preferences for same-ethnic friends contribute to persistent segregation of adolescents' friendship networks. Yet, we know surprisingly little about the mechanisms behind ethnic homophily. Prior research suggests that ethnic homophily is ubiquitous, but a social identity perspective indicates that strong ingroup identification drives ingroup favoritism. Combining a social identity perspective with a relational approach, we ask whether …
(K)eine Frage der Religion
Beeinflusst Religion die soziale Integration von Migranten? Obwohl diese Frage wichtiger denn je ist, mangelt es an belastbaren Befunden. Im vorliegenden Beitrag argumentiere ich, dass Religion die Entwicklung enger , freundschaftlicher Kontakte zu Deutschen, nicht jedoch die allgemeine Kontakthäufigkeit beeinflusst. Mit Längsschnittdaten des SCIP-Projekts zeige ich, dass die Entwicklung allgemeiner interethnischer Kontakte für christliche und mu…
Young immigrants' host country identification and their friendships with natives
Selection and influence processes in academic achievement—More pronounced for girls
The Effects of Ethnic Minority Adolescents' Ethnic Self‐Identification on Friendship Selection
This study investigated the effects of ethnic minority adolescents' ethnic self-identification (host country, dual, or heritage country) on friendship choices among ethnic majority and minority peers. Hypotheses were derived from similarity-attraction and social identity theory and tested using longitudinal social network data from 1,004 middle school students (five schools) in Germany. Results showed that ethnic minority adolescents' ethnic self…
The relation between ethnic classroom composition and adolescents’ ethnic pride
This study investigated how students’ ethnic pride was related to variation in ethnic composition between classrooms as well as within the same classroom over time. Predictions derived from optimal distinctiveness theory (ODT) were tested among 13- to 14-year-old ethnic majority and minority students ( N = 1,123). Lending support to ODT, a curvilinear relation between the share of same-ethnicity classmates and students’ ethnic pride was found in …
Are there differences in ethnic majority and minority adolescents' friendships preferences and social influence with regard to their academic achievement
Research has established that adolescents both befriend peers based on their academic achievement and adjust their own achievement to that of their friends' over time. However, these processes may be different for ethnic minority students, because some of them may adhere to an oppositional culture that rejects striving for academic success. We examine respective differences between self-identified ethnic minority and majority students using longi…
Intra- and Inter-group Friendship Choices of Christian, Muslim, and Non-religious Youth in Germany
In contemporary Western Europe, both scholars and the public discuss the consequences of a rising share of a comparatively religious Muslim population for societal coexistence. Yet we know surprisingly little about how religion and religiosity shape social relationships. Focusing on adolescents’ friendship networks, we examine how religion and religiosity affect intra- and inter-group friendship choices. While youth should generally prefer to bef…
Disentangling the relation between young immigrants’ host country identification and their friendships with natives
Ethnic segregation of friendship networks in school
What Drives Ethnic Homophily? A Relational Approach on How Ethnic Identification Moderates Preferences for Same-Ethnic Friends
Individual preferences for same-ethnic friends contribute to persistent segregation of adolescents' friendship networks. Yet, we know surprisingly little about the mechanisms behind ethnic homophily. Prior research suggests that ethnic homophily is ubiquitous, but a social identity perspective indicates that strong ingroup identification drives ingroup favoritism. Combining a social identity perspective with a relational approach, we ask whether …
How to Deal With Reverse Causality Using Panel Data? Recommendations for Researchers Based on a Simulation Study
Does X affect Y? Answering this question is particularly difficult if reverse causality is looming. Many social scientists turn to panel data to address such questions of causal ordering. Yet even in longitudinal analyses, reverse causality threatens causal inference based on conventional panel models. Whereas the methodological literature has suggested various alternative solutions, these approaches face many criticisms, chief among them to be s…
Native Friends and Host Country Identification among Adolescent Immigrants in Germany
Many studies find that high shares of native friends are positively related to immigrant youths’ identification with the host country. By examining various immigrant groups together, these studies imply that having native friends matters in the same way for the national identification in different immigrant groups. In contrast, we argue that the extent to which having native friends affects immigrants’ national identification depends on both immi…
The Effects of Ethnic Minority Adolescents' Ethnic Self‐Identification on Friendship Selection
This study investigated the effects of ethnic minority adolescents' ethnic self-identification (host country, dual, or heritage country) on friendship choices among ethnic majority and minority peers. Hypotheses were derived from similarity-attraction and social identity theory and tested using longitudinal social network data from 1,004 middle school students (five schools) in Germany. Results showed that ethnic minority adolescents' ethnic self…
Do national identification and interethnic friendships affect one another? A longitudinal test with adolescents of Turkish origin in Germany
Are there differences in ethnic majority and minority adolescents' friendships preferences and social influence with regard to their academic achievement
Research has established that adolescents both befriend peers based on their academic achievement and adjust their own achievement to that of their friends' over time. However, these processes may be different for ethnic minority students, because some of them may adhere to an oppositional culture that rejects striving for academic success. We examine respective differences between self-identified ethnic minority and majority students using longi…
Changes in Turkish- and Resettler-origin Adolescents’ Acculturation Profiles of Identification
Little is known on how ethnic minority adolescents develop acculturation profiles of identification (i.e., how they combine their ethnic and national identification, such as being high on both and thus rather “integrated” or high on ethnic and low on national and thus rather “separated”). In a first step, this 3-year longitudinal study classified Turkish ( n = 344) and resettler-origin ( n = 121) ethnic minority adolescents living in Germany ( M …
Religious friendship preferences of Muslim and non-Muslim students in German schools
The Interplay of Group Identifications and Friendships
This article reviews empirical evidence on the reciprocal relation of ethnic minority group members’ national, ethnic, and dual identification on the one hand and their friendships with both minority and majority group members on the other. Emphasis is given to studies that apply longitudinal social network analysis in order to draw inferences about how these group identifications shape social relations and/or how social relations in turn shape i…
Young immigrants' host country identification and their friendships with natives
The relation between ethnic classroom composition and adolescents’ ethnic pride
This study investigated how students’ ethnic pride was related to variation in ethnic composition between classrooms as well as within the same classroom over time. Predictions derived from optimal distinctiveness theory (ODT) were tested among 13- to 14-year-old ethnic majority and minority students ( N = 1,123). Lending support to ODT, a curvilinear relation between the share of same-ethnicity classmates and students’ ethnic pride was found in …
(K)eine Frage der Religion
Beeinflusst Religion die soziale Integration von Migranten? Obwohl diese Frage wichtiger denn je ist, mangelt es an belastbaren Befunden. Im vorliegenden Beitrag argumentiere ich, dass Religion die Entwicklung enger , freundschaftlicher Kontakte zu Deutschen, nicht jedoch die allgemeine Kontakthäufigkeit beeinflusst. Mit Längsschnittdaten des SCIP-Projekts zeige ich, dass die Entwicklung allgemeiner interethnischer Kontakte für christliche und mu…
How gendered religious norms contribute to the emerging gender gap in Muslim youths’ interreligious friendships
Recent research finds that Muslim girls increasingly have in-group friendships in adolescence, while Muslim boys remain more open to interreligious friendships. This gender gap mirrors established findings of female Muslims’ lower involvement in interreligious romantic relationships, which is attributed to gendered religious norms. In this study, we examine whether gendered religious norms also contribute to the emerging gender gap in Muslim yout…
Studying Youth' Group Identities, Intergroup Relations, and Friendship Networks
This data brief introduces the Friendship and Identity in School (FIS) dataset. The FIS data are school-based longitudinal social network data, which have become increasingly important in recent years. Including information on 2,500 adolescents in nine secondary schools in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the FIS data have four important key features that make them uniquely suited for studying the co-evolution of friendship net…
Are Birds of a Feather Praying Together? Assessing Friends’ Influence on Muslim Youths’ Religiosity in Germany
Muslim religiosity is often portrayed as a barrier to integration into secular societies, especially in Europe. Scholars suggest that religiously segregated networks reinforce Muslims’ religiosity and religious identification, but solid evidence is scarce. Based on longitudinal German data, we examined whether friendship networks influence Muslim youths’ religiosity. Using stochastic actor-oriented models, we also assessed whether religiosity in …
Intra- and Inter-group Friendship Choices of Christian, Muslim, and Non-religious Youth in Germany
In contemporary Western Europe, both scholars and the public discuss the consequences of a rising share of a comparatively religious Muslim population for societal coexistence. Yet we know surprisingly little about how religion and religiosity shape social relationships. Focusing on adolescents’ friendship networks, we examine how religion and religiosity affect intra- and inter-group friendship choices. While youth should generally prefer to bef…
Religion, Gender, and the Development of Leisure Time Activities from Adolescence to Young Adulthood
Previous research shows that Muslim girls in Western societies are less likely to do sports than both Muslim boys and non-Muslims of either gender. But we know little about whether other leisure time activities also differ by religion and gender and whether these patterns change during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. In this data visualization, we use large-scale representative data from Germany to show how 13 leisure time act…
Stable or dynamic? Explaining the development of Muslim and non-Muslim boys' and girls' friendship-making across adolescence
Do national identification and interethnic friendships affect one another? A longitudinal test with adolescents of Turkish origin in Germany
Disentangling the relation between young immigrants’ host country identification and their friendships with natives
Ethnic segregation of friendship networks in school
Native Friends and Host Country Identification among Adolescent Immigrants in Germany
Many studies find that high shares of native friends are positively related to immigrant youths’ identification with the host country. By examining various immigrant groups together, these studies imply that having native friends matters in the same way for the national identification in different immigrant groups. In contrast, we argue that the extent to which having native friends affects immigrants’ national identification depends on both immi…
Intra- and Inter-group Friendship Choices of Christian, Muslim, and Non-religious Youth in Germany
In contemporary Western Europe, both scholars and the public discuss the consequences of a rising share of a comparatively religious Muslim population for societal coexistence. Yet we know surprisingly little about how religion and religiosity shape social relationships. Focusing on adolescents’ friendship networks, we examine how religion and religiosity affect intra- and inter-group friendship choices. While youth should generally prefer to bef…
Selection and influence processes in academic achievement—More pronounced for girls
The Effects of Ethnic Minority Adolescents' Ethnic Self‐Identification on Friendship Selection
This study investigated the effects of ethnic minority adolescents' ethnic self-identification (host country, dual, or heritage country) on friendship choices among ethnic majority and minority peers. Hypotheses were derived from similarity-attraction and social identity theory and tested using longitudinal social network data from 1,004 middle school students (five schools) in Germany. Results showed that ethnic minority adolescents' ethnic self…
The relation between ethnic classroom composition and adolescents’ ethnic pride
This study investigated how students’ ethnic pride was related to variation in ethnic composition between classrooms as well as within the same classroom over time. Predictions derived from optimal distinctiveness theory (ODT) were tested among 13- to 14-year-old ethnic majority and minority students ( N = 1,123). Lending support to ODT, a curvilinear relation between the share of same-ethnicity classmates and students’ ethnic pride was found in …
Are there differences in ethnic majority and minority adolescents' friendships preferences and social influence with regard to their academic achievement
Research has established that adolescents both befriend peers based on their academic achievement and adjust their own achievement to that of their friends' over time. However, these processes may be different for ethnic minority students, because some of them may adhere to an oppositional culture that rejects striving for academic success. We examine respective differences between self-identified ethnic minority and majority students using longi…
(K)eine Frage der Religion
Beeinflusst Religion die soziale Integration von Migranten? Obwohl diese Frage wichtiger denn je ist, mangelt es an belastbaren Befunden. Im vorliegenden Beitrag argumentiere ich, dass Religion die Entwicklung enger , freundschaftlicher Kontakte zu Deutschen, nicht jedoch die allgemeine Kontakthäufigkeit beeinflusst. Mit Längsschnittdaten des SCIP-Projekts zeige ich, dass die Entwicklung allgemeiner interethnischer Kontakte für christliche und mu…
Young immigrants' host country identification and their friendships with natives
Identity threat and identity multiplicity among minority youth
The notion that ethnic and religious minority identities are inherently incompatible with the national identities of European immigrant‐receiving societies is popular in public discourse. Although findings documenting such negative associations seemingly support this claim, other research shows that the intergroup context matters for the extent to which minorities’ ethnic and religious identities are conflicting (i.e., negatively associated) or c…
The Interplay of Group Identifications and Friendships
This article reviews empirical evidence on the reciprocal relation of ethnic minority group members’ national, ethnic, and dual identification on the one hand and their friendships with both minority and majority group members on the other. Emphasis is given to studies that apply longitudinal social network analysis in order to draw inferences about how these group identifications shape social relations and/or how social relations in turn shape i…
What Drives Ethnic Homophily? A Relational Approach on How Ethnic Identification Moderates Preferences for Same-Ethnic Friends
Individual preferences for same-ethnic friends contribute to persistent segregation of adolescents' friendship networks. Yet, we know surprisingly little about the mechanisms behind ethnic homophily. Prior research suggests that ethnic homophily is ubiquitous, but a social identity perspective indicates that strong ingroup identification drives ingroup favoritism. Combining a social identity perspective with a relational approach, we ask whether …
Are Birds of a Feather Praying Together? Assessing Friends’ Influence on Muslim Youths’ Religiosity in Germany
Muslim religiosity is often portrayed as a barrier to integration into secular societies, especially in Europe. Scholars suggest that religiously segregated networks reinforce Muslims’ religiosity and religious identification, but solid evidence is scarce. Based on longitudinal German data, we examined whether friendship networks influence Muslim youths’ religiosity. Using stochastic actor-oriented models, we also assessed whether religiosity in …
Changes in Turkish- and Resettler-origin Adolescents’ Acculturation Profiles of Identification
Little is known on how ethnic minority adolescents develop acculturation profiles of identification (i.e., how they combine their ethnic and national identification, such as being high on both and thus rather “integrated” or high on ethnic and low on national and thus rather “separated”). In a first step, this 3-year longitudinal study classified Turkish ( n = 344) and resettler-origin ( n = 121) ethnic minority adolescents living in Germany ( M …
In-Group Bias or Out-Group Reluctance? The Interplay of Gender and Religion in Creating Religious Friendship Segregation among Muslim Youth
Even in diverse schools that provide opportunities for interreligious friendships, Muslim youth disproportionally tend to be friends with Muslims rather than non-Muslims. Echoing broader debates about minorities’ self-segregation versus exclusion by majority group members, a key question is whether religious friendship segregation arises because of Muslims’ in-group bias or because of non-Muslims’ reluctance to befriend them. We suggest that the …
How to Deal With Reverse Causality Using Panel Data? Recommendations for Researchers Based on a Simulation Study
Does X affect Y? Answering this question is particularly difficult if reverse causality is looming. Many social scientists turn to panel data to address such questions of causal ordering. Yet even in longitudinal analyses, reverse causality threatens causal inference based on conventional panel models. Whereas the methodological literature has suggested various alternative solutions, these approaches face many criticisms, chief among them to be s…
Studying Youth' Group Identities, Intergroup Relations, and Friendship Networks
This data brief introduces the Friendship and Identity in School (FIS) dataset. The FIS data are school-based longitudinal social network data, which have become increasingly important in recent years. Including information on 2,500 adolescents in nine secondary schools in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the FIS data have four important key features that make them uniquely suited for studying the co-evolution of friendship net…
Religious friendship preferences of Muslim and non-Muslim students in German schools
How gendered religious norms contribute to the emerging gender gap in Muslim youths’ interreligious friendships
Recent research finds that Muslim girls increasingly have in-group friendships in adolescence, while Muslim boys remain more open to interreligious friendships. This gender gap mirrors established findings of female Muslims’ lower involvement in interreligious romantic relationships, which is attributed to gendered religious norms. In this study, we examine whether gendered religious norms also contribute to the emerging gender gap in Muslim yout…
Strong ties, strong homophily? Variation in homophily on sociodemographic characteristics by relationship strength
Social networks are segregated by sociodemographic characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, religion, and socioeconomic status. A key reason for this segregation is homophily, or people's preferences to associate with similar others. Homophily is documented for relationships of different strengths, ranging from marriage and close friendship to weaker acquaintanceships. But does sociodemographic homophily vary by relationship strength? While mos…
Differences in stated attitudes vs. realised friendships among Jews vis-à-vis Arabs in Israel
Previous research has documented differences in majority attitudes towards minority groups. However, there is a lack of research on (1) how attitudes towards minorities differ among majority subgroups, and (2) how attitudinal differences relate to interpersonal relationships between majority and minority members. This article investigates whether Jewish university students from two majority subgroups in Israel – Ashkenazim (European lineage, high…
Religion, Gender, and the Development of Leisure Time Activities from Adolescence to Young Adulthood
Previous research shows that Muslim girls in Western societies are less likely to do sports than both Muslim boys and non-Muslims of either gender. But we know little about whether other leisure time activities also differ by religion and gender and whether these patterns change during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. In this data visualization, we use large-scale representative data from Germany to show how 13 leisure time act…
Opportunities and challenges of using targeted advertisements on social media to sample ethnoreligious minorities
Targeted ads on social media allow researchers to recruit hard-to-reach or small populations such as ethnoreligious minorities. Seeking to guide researchers in dealing with the corresponding opportunities and challenges, we address three questions. First, how to define targeting criteria for ads aimed at recruiting ethnoreligious minorities on social media? Second, how costly is the recruitment of ethnoreligious minorities? Third, to what extent …
Psychology (20 works) · Social Psychology (19 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (15 works) · Friendship (14 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Ethnic group (12 works) · Political science (10 works) · Geography (9 works) · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research (9 works) · Social Psychology (9 works)