1-084 - International Perspectives on Intergroup Relations and Children’s Fair Treatment of Peers

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Children value fairness in their peer relationships, but children’s intergroup biases can also lead them to treat outgroup members unfairly. This symposium presents empirical evidence from diverse research perspectives spanning three countries demonstrating the impact of group membership, ingroup preference, and perceptions of group status on children’s attitudes and behaviors in situations involving harm to others, social exclusion, and resource allocation. This symposium will provide a novel and integrated perspective on how intergroup relations and fairness interact in childhood.

The first paper addresses 6-9 year old Australian children’s reactions to in-group members who acted aggressively towards out-group members. Children from the aggressors’ social group exhibited less disapproval of their actions than did independent observers. The second paper addresses 9-13 year-old Dutch preadolescents’ evaluations of a child who excluded another child from a play group. Preadolescents’ ingroup preference was associated with less disapproval of social exclusion when a native Dutch child excluded an immigrant child. The third paper addresses 5-6 and 10-11 year-old African-American and European-American children’s reactions to resource inequalities between schools on the basis of race. With age, children endorsing stereotypes about status based on race gave fewer resources to a disadvantaged school. Findings and implications from these three studies will be analyzed by a discussant internationally known in the area of fairness, morality, and group processes.

Sub Unit

• Moral Development

Chair

• Laura Elenbaas, University of Maryland, College Park

Discussant

• Elliot Turiel, UC Berkeley

Individual Presentations

• Mitigation or Disapproval: Children’s Reactions to In-group Aggressors - Presenting Author: Andrew Robert Nesdale, Griffith University; Melanie A. Killen, University of Maryland, College Park; Amanda Duffy, Griffith University

• Evaluations of Peer Exclusion: The Role of Group Boundaries, In-group Preference, and Empathy - Presenting Author: Jochem Thijs, Utrecht University

• Perceptions of Race and Social Status Impact Children’s Willingness to Rectify Social Inequalities - Presenting Author: Laura Elenbaas, University of Maryland, College Park; Melanie A. Killen, University of Maryland, College Park