Young people's attitudes towards inter-ethnic and inter-religious socializing, courtship and marriage in Indonesia

Abstract

This paper presents the attitudes of high school students in Indonesia towards inter-ethnic and inter-religious socializing, courtship and marriage. It also explores how different personal characteristics and social conditions such as gender, ethnicity, type of school and community affect these attitudes. The basic findings come from a survey of more than 3,000 students in senior high schools in five provinces of Indonesia: Jakarta, Yogyakarta, West Sumatra, Central Kalimantan and Bali. Survey data were supplemented with data from interviews and focus group discussions with students and from participant observation in and around the same schools. The authors found that most students were positive about friendships with people of different ethnicities and different faiths. However, most students did not agree with inter-religious marriage, because they perceived that their religion forbad it. This research was part of a large team project examining how education can contribute to building a more tolerant and multicultural Indonesia.