Does Skin Color our Judgments? Experimental Study of Implicit Bias and Ratings of Child Behavior

• In Event: Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Topic - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Abstract

There is reason to believe that racial biases contribute to disparate outcomes for children who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPoC) as early as the preschool years, yet there are few experimental studies of implicit biases and judgments of child behavior in preschool. Such biases may be particularly influential when judges have limited information about a target (Slepian, Bogart, & Ambady, 2014). The present study probes the potential impact of implicit racial biases on judgments of the behavior of Black versus White male preschool children based on brief observations.

Participants were 388 undergraduate students at a State University: 71% identified as female and 21% as male, and 75.16% identified as White/European American, 17.42% Black/African American, 3.2% Asian American, 0.3% Hispanic/Latinx American, and 3.92% multiracial.

Ethical standards were followed and all procedures were approved by appropriate institutional review boards (IRBs). Participants viewed brief video clips of children in a preschool class and, based on random assignment, were told either to observe Child 1 (a Black child) or Child 2 (a White child). The two children showed levels of problem behavior that was expert-rated as low and statistically indistinguishable. After viewing the video clips, participants were asked to provide ratings of child behavior on the Conners’ Teacher Rating Scale (CTRS-R; Conners, 1997). The 28 items support an overall ADHD index and three subscales: oppositional behavior/defiance, cognitive functioning/inattention, and hyperactivity.

Results of a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) supported the hypothesis that problem behavior ratings would be higher for participants who observed a Black child versus a White child. Multivariate tests (df = 383) revealed significant main effects for participant condition (Wilks’ Lambda = .960, F = 3.930, p = .004, ηp2 = .04, power = .902) and the covariate of participant Black/African American race/ethnicity (Wilks’ Lambda = .972, F = 2.699, p = .030, ηp2 = .028, power = .747). Between-subjects effects were significant for participant condition (CTRS-R subscale of oppositional behavior/defiance (F = 5.993, p = .015, power = .685) and the overall ADHD index (F = 4.952, p = .027, power = .602)) and for participant race/ethnicity (all three CTRS-R subscales: oppositional behavior (F = 9.264, p = .002, power = .859), cognitive functioning/inattention (F = 5.396, p = .021, power = .640), and hyperactivity (F = 8.539, p = .004, power = .830), and the overall ADHD index (F = 7.098, p = .008, power = .757). Univariate statistics (Table 1) confirmed that the problem behavior ratings of participants randomly assigned to observe a Black child were statistically higher than those of participants assigned to observe a White child. Descriptive statistics with independent samples t-tests (Table 2) also showed that participants who identified as Black/African American provided problem behavior ratings that were lower than participants from other racial/ethnic groups, but just for the condition observing a White child.

Results suggest the impact of implicit racial biases on ratings of child behavior based on brief observations. Further research on this topic will benefit efforts to end racism.

Authors

• Ellie Brown, West Chester University
  Presenting Author

• Peter Ippolito, West Chester University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mallory Leigh Garnett, University of Delaware
  Non-Presenting Author

• Janet Chang, West Chester University
  Non-Presenting Author