3-027 - The socialization of prejudice: New insights from international samples

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The dark side of human sociality is our tribalism: We value other groups less than our own. How does this tendency arise? The four talks in this symposium examine the role of socialization—messages embedded in children’s social interactions and environments—in fostering prejudice and its precursors (e.g., essentialism, or the tendency to see groups as homogeneous and rooted in biology). Moreover, because outgroup derogation is a global phenomenon, this symposium brings together a geographically and culturally diverse group of scholars spanning three continents. The first talk focuses on school and family influences on essentialist beliefs and outgroup attitudes toward ethno-religious categories in Northern Ireland, finding that children who attend segregated (vs. integrated) schools, and children in families reporting higher ethnic socialization, have stronger essentialist beliefs about ethno-religious categories. The second talk focuses on the attitudes of Arab minority children in Israel toward the ingroup vs. the outgroup (Jews). In contrast to ethnic-majority children, Arab children did not judge the outgroup to be homogeneous, potentially a reflection of their experiences as a low-status minority. The third talk focuses on language as a medium of socialization, suggesting that formal explanations (i.e., explanations invoking group membership, as in “She sews because she’s a girl”) foster essentialism in children. The final talk demonstrates how young children use subtle non-verbal cues in their social environments (e.g., others’ choice behavior), as well as linguistic cues, to make inferences about social value and status.

Sub Unit

• Social Cognition

Chair

• Melis Muradoglu, New York University

Individual Presentations

• School and family environments influence children’s essentialism of ethno-religious categories in Northern Ireland - Presenting Author: Jocelyn B Dautel, Queen's University, Belfast; Non-Presenting Author: Laura K Taylor, Queen's University Belfast; Non-Presenting Author: Aidan Feeney, Queen's University, Belfast; Non-Presenting Author: John D Coley, Northeastern University; Non-Presenting Author: Risa Rylander, Queen's University, Belfast

• Exploring the out-group homogeneity effect among Arab children in Israel - Presenting Author: Francine Essa, Bar-Ilan University; Non-Presenting Author: Reut Shilo, Bar-Ilan University; Non-Presenting Author: Anika Weinsdorfer, University of Gottingen; Non-Presenting Author: Hannes Rakoczy, University of Gottingen; Non-Presenting Author: Gil Diesendruck, Bar-Ilan University

• Do formal explanations promote essentialist reasoning in children? - Presenting Author: Melis Muradoglu, New York University; Non-Presenting Author: Kristan Marchak, University of Michigan; Non-Presenting Author: Andrei Cimpian, New York University; Non-Presenting Author: Susan Gelman, University of Michigan

• Children's use of choice and linguistic framing to re-construct social hierarchies - Presenting Author: Isobel Heck, Cornell University; Non-Presenting Author: Katherine Kinzler, Cornell University