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Essa F, Rakoczy H, Diesendruck G. Exploring the Out-Group Homogeneity Effect Among Arab Children in Israel: The Roles of Religion, Contact, and Group Identification. Child Dev 2025; 96:1148-1164. [PMID: 39960232 PMCID: PMC12023831 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.14226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2023] [Revised: 12/30/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2025] [Indexed: 04/26/2025]
Abstract
The out-group homogeneity effect has been found to contribute to adults' inter-group biases. Three studies examined whether 5- and 8-year-old Arab (i.e., minority) children in Israel also manifest this effect (March 2017-January 2020). Arab children from different religious affiliations and social environments (N = 272, 54% females) were asked to choose either a homogeneous or a heterogeneous sample of group members to infer if a given property (biological or psychological) was true of a whole group: either the participant's in-group (Arabs) or out-group (Jews). Overall, differently from Jewish (i.e., majority) Israeli children, Arab children did not exhibit the out-group homogeneity effect. Nevertheless, there were indications that religious affiliation, social environment, and group identification affected children's responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francine Essa
- Department of Psychology and Gonda Brain Research CenterBar‐Ilan UniversityRamat‐GanIsrael
| | - Hannes Rakoczy
- Department of Developmental PsychologyUniversity of GoettingenGoettingenGermany
| | - Gil Diesendruck
- Department of Psychology and Gonda Brain Research CenterBar‐Ilan UniversityRamat‐GanIsrael
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2
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Venkatesh S, DeJesus JM. Children's evaluations of culturally diverse lunchbox foods. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 243:105911. [PMID: 38564825 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2023] [Revised: 03/03/2024] [Accepted: 03/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Previous research indicates that children make ingroup-outgroup judgments based on notions of food conventionality and that ethnic minority children have been teased or bullied for bringing non-conventional foods to school. This series of three studies experimentally investigated U.S. school-age children's evaluations of culturally diverse lunchbox foods. Study 1 examined an online sample of children aged 5 to 12 years and their evaluations of foods from four cultures (mainstream American, Chinese, Indian, and Mexican) on the taste, smell, and messiness of the food, the appropriateness of bringing the food to school, and whether "cool kids" eat the food. Compared with the mainstream American lunchbox, children rated the Chinese, Indian, and Mexican lunchboxes as less tasty, more messy, and less likely that cool kids would bring those foods to school. In Studies 2 and 3, we examined children's behavioral choices in a hypothetical cafeteria. In both studies, we found that the match between children's own lunch preferences and what was displayed in the mainstream American lunchbox was the only predictor of children's choice to sit at the table with the American lunchbox. Individual variables (e.g., child age, food pickiness) and contextual variables (e.g., neighborhood diversity) did not predict children's table choices. This research highlights children's understanding of familiarity and conventionality of foods and the social consequences of their behavioral choices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shruthi Venkatesh
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA.
| | - Jasmine M DeJesus
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
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3
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Amemiya J, Widjanarko K, Chung I, Bian L, Heyman GD. Children can represent complex social status hierarchies: Evidence from Indonesia. Child Dev 2023; 94:1730-1744. [PMID: 37357502 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Revised: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023]
Abstract
Children's ethnicity-status associations are often studied in societies where one ethnic group possesses status across multiple dimensions, such as political influence and wealth. This study examined children's (6-12 years) and adults' representations of more complex hierarchies in Indonesia (N = 341; 38% Native Indonesian, 33% Chinese Indonesian, and 27% other ethnicities; 55% female, 36% male; 2021-2022), a society where ethnic groups hold distinct forms of status (on average, Native Indonesians have political influence; Chinese Indonesians have wealth). By 6.5 years, children associated Native Indonesians with political influence and Chinese Indonesians with wealth. Intersectional analyses indicated that ethnicity-status associations were stronger for male than female targets. Children of all ethnicities preferred Chinese Indonesians and preferences were predicted by wealth judgments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie Amemiya
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Kiara Widjanarko
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Irene Chung
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Lin Bian
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Gail D Heyman
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
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Fisher-Grafy H, Meyer S. Exploring Intergroup Peer Exclusion: Validation of the Latency Social-Psychological Developmental Questionnaire (LSPD). CHILDREN 2023; 10:children10030543. [PMID: 36980101 PMCID: PMC10046949 DOI: 10.3390/children10030543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Revised: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023]
Abstract
Intergroup peer exclusion has been studied mainly from a pathological aspect. Currently, methods of diagnosis and treatment focus on this pathological point of view. Qualitative research has revealed that social intergroup peer exclusion has a role in the developmental task of the latency stage. The study’s main aim was to develop and validate a quick and easy quantitative questionnaire for use in a school setting that reflects the social developmental variables exposed in previous qualitative research. The 32-item Latency Social-Psychological Developmental questionnaire (LSPD) and the Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction Questionnaire were administered to 20 Grade 4 and Grade 5 classes at four co-ed public elementary schools (N = 373 participants). Factor analysis revealed six developmental factors, and correlations were found between these factors and loneliness. The LSPD is a tool for assessing latency stage development among children who experienced exclusion as well as the developmental status of the entire class. The LSPD can assist in identifying specific development areas to focus on in treatment and intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna Fisher-Grafy
- Department of Education, Talpiot College of Education, Holon 58500, Israel
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +972-54-429-1460
| | - Sonya Meyer
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel;
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Heck IA, Shutts K, Kinzler KD. Children's thinking about group-based social hierarchies. Trends Cogn Sci 2022; 26:593-606. [PMID: 35606254 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2021] [Revised: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 04/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Wealth, power, and status are distributed unevenly across social groups. A surge of recent research reveals that people being recognizing, representing, and reasoning about group-based patterns of inequity during the first years of life. We first synthesize recent research on what children learn about group-based social hierarchies as well as how this learning occurs. We then discuss how children not only learn about societal structures but become active participants in them. Studying the origins and development of children's thoughts and behavior regarding group-based social hierarchies provides valuable insight into how systems of inequity are perpetuated across generations and how intergroup biases related to wealth, power, and status may be mitigated and reshaped early in development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isobel A Heck
- University of Chicago, Department of Psychology, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Kristin Shutts
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Psychology, Madison, WI 53711, USA
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Farooq A, Ketzitzidou Argyri E, Adlam A, Rutland A. Children and Adolescents’ Ingroup Biases and Developmental Differences in Evaluations of Peers Who Misinform. Front Psychol 2022; 13:835695. [PMID: 35496208 PMCID: PMC9051390 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.835695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous developmental research shows that young children display a preference for ingroup members when it comes to who they accept information from – even when that information is false. However, it is not clear how this ingroup bias develops into adolescence, and how it affects responses about peers who misinform in intergroup contexts, which is important to explore with growing numbers of young people on online platforms. Given that the developmental span from childhood to adolescence is when social groups and group norms are particularly important, the present study took a Social Reasoning Developmental Approach. This study explored whether children and adolescents respond differently to a misinformer spreading false claims about a peer breaking COVID-19 rules, depending on (a) the group membership of the misinformer and their target and (b) whether the ingroup had a “critical” norm that values questioning information before believing it. 354 United Kingdom-based children (8–11 years old) and adolescents (12–16 years old) read about an intergroup scenario in which a peer spreads misinformation on WhatsApp about a competitor. Participants first made moral evaluations, which asked them to judge and decide whether or not to include the misinformer, with follow-up “Why?” questions to capture their reasoning. This was followed by asking them to attribute intentions to the misinformer. Results showed that ingroup preferences emerged both when participants morally evaluated the misinformer, and when they justified those responses. Participants were more likely to evaluate an ingroup compared to an outgroup misinformer positively, and more likely to accuse an outgroup misinformer of dishonesty. Adolescents attributed more positive intentions to the misinformer compared with children, with children more likely to believe an outgroup misinformer was deliberately misinforming. The critical norm condition resulted in children making more positive intentionality attributions toward an ingroup misinformer, but not an outgroup misinformer. This study’s findings highlight the importance of shared group identity with a misinformer when morally evaluating and reasoning about their actions, and the key role age plays in intentionality attributions surrounding a misinformer when their intentions are ambiguous.
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D’Esterre AP, Samuelson A, Killen M. To punish or exclude? Children’s responses to unfair and fair advantages created in competitive contexts. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2022; 62. [PMID: 35633869 PMCID: PMC9138016 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2022.101168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
To determine whether children will exclude or punish a peer who creates an unfair advantage in an intergroup team context, four-to ten-year-old participants (N = 120, Mage = 6.87) were assigned a team membership and evaluated unintentional and intentional unfair advantages created by a character. Children were more likely to endorse punishment and exclusion responses when reasoning about an opponent than a teammate. This difference between groups was not observed when in-group and out-group members reasoned about punishing a character who intentionally created an unfair advantage. Older children were less likely to endorse exclusion than younger participants. Further, older children and in-group members utilized punishment more frequently than exclusion. Taken together this demonstrates that the group identity and the age of the child influences the ways in which children endorse responses to transgressions. These findings increase our understanding regarding children's conceptions of fairness responses to transgressions in intergroup contexts.
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Santhanagopalan R, Heck IA, Kinzler KD. Leadership, gender, and colorism: Children in India use social category information to guide leadership cognition. Dev Sci 2021; 25:e13212. [PMID: 34897911 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Across the globe, women and racial minorities are underrepresented in leadership. We examined the development of 5-10-year-old children's leadership cognition in India, the world's largest democracy. This cultural context offered the opportunity to study the development of attitudes about gender and to extend examinations of children's conceptions of race to include colorism (the privileging of lighter skin). In Experiment 1, children completed a novel Election Task in which they saw a fictional class with 20 students varying in gender (boys, girls) and race/skin tone (darker-skinned South Asian [Dark-SA], lighter-skinned South Asian [Light-SA], Black, White). Children predicted who would be elected as President, Treasurer, Welcomer, and Notetaker. Children most often chose Light-SA and White students as President. When choosing Presidents, younger children showed an own-gender bias, but by age 9, both boys and girls primarily chose boy Presidents. Importantly, children's choices differed for the other class positions. Next, we asked children to draw a "leader." No boys drew a girl, and girls' drawings were mixed (52% drew girls). In Experiment 2, we replicated the drawing task findings and compared children's drawings of a leader to their drawings of a helper and a scientist. Children most often drew boys and men as leaders and scientists, but not as helpers, suggesting specificity of children's pro-male bias to male-stereotyped positions. Children's conceptions of leadership reflected a male bias and an association between lighter skin and status. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Aral T, Juang LP, Schwarzenthal M, Rivas-Drake D. The Role of the Family for Racism and Xenophobia in Childhood and Adolescence. REVIEW OF GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1177/10892680211056320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Racism and xenophobia are not just the problems of the adult world; As systems of beliefs, practices, and policies, racism and xenophobia influence children’s perceptions and experiences at early ages. Because families can be significant sources of information regarding race and ethnicity, we focus on the family to understand the broader context of racism and xenophobia in childhood and adolescence. In this paper, we first provide an overview of research conducted among BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and ethnic/religious minority families that has focused on family ethnic–racial socialization to support children and adolescents’ capabilities for resisting racism and xenophobia. We then review research conducted among white and ethnic/religious majority families that has mainly taken an intergroup relations perspective and has examined associations between parents’ and children’s ethnic–racial attitudes, biases, and prejudice. Finally, we discuss the role of family for racism and xenophobia through the lens of family ethnic–racial socialization and intergroup relations perspectives, highlight areas that are currently understudied, and offer recommendations concerning future research directions.
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Keshvari F, Hartlin S, Capozzi‐Davis O, Moore C, Corbit J. Group over need: Convergence in the influence of recipient characteristics on children's sharing in Iran and Canada. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Fatemeh Keshvari
- Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences Shahid Beheshti University Tehran Iran
| | - Stephanie Hartlin
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Dalhousie University Halifax NS Canada
| | - Olivia Capozzi‐Davis
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Dalhousie University Halifax NS Canada
| | - Chris Moore
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Dalhousie University Halifax NS Canada
| | - John Corbit
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Dalhousie University Halifax NS Canada
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Ahn S, Amemiya J, Compton BJ, Heyman GD. Children approve of lying to benefit another person’s reputation. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2020.100960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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