3-064 - Children's reasoning about social class: An international perspective

Session Type: Paper Session

Integrative Statement

Marked increases in economic inequality in the United States as well as across many European countries has contributed to a renewed interest in examining children's awareness of and beliefs about social class group membership including stereotypes, attitudes, behaviors, and causal attributions. The three presentations in this symposium advance our theoretical understanding of children's reasoning about social class. Furthermore, the studies allow for a comparative examination of children's knowledge and beliefs. Paper #1 examines age-related differences in English children's explicit and implicit social class bias and evaluations of class-based discrimination. Similarly, Paper #2 explores age-related differences in Portuguese children’s conceptions of poverty, including their categorization of others' based on social class cues and perceived and intended behaviors towards poor children. Finally, drawing on a sample of lower-income children, Paper #3 examines American children's perceptions of the causes and consequences of poverty and judgements about the fairness of economic inequality.

Sub Unit

• Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Chair

• Rashmita S. Mistry, University of California, Los Angeles

Individual Presentations

• Children's Reasoning about Social Class - Presenting Author: Harriet R. Tenenbaum, University of Surrey; Adam McNamara, University of Nottingham

• Who are the poor children?: speeches and drawings about child poverty in childhood - Presenting Author: Leonor Pereira Costa, ISCTE-IUL; Ricardo B. Rodrigues, ISCTE-IUL; Sven Waldzus, ISCTE-IUL

• Children’s Explanations of Economic Inequality: A Qualitative Study - Presenting Author: Erika Jewel Bagley, Muhlenberg College; Stefanie Sinno, Muhlenberg College; Brittany Smith, Muhlenberg College