Neighborhood trust and cultural diversity predict children’s acceptance of foreign cultural foods

• In Event: Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Topic - Social Cognition

Abstract

Introduction: Racial and linguistic diversity in children’s neighborhoods are related to their social essentialism (Mandalaywala et al., 2019), racial stereotyping (Pauker et al., 2016), and even infants’ openness to imitate foreign speakers (Howard et al, 2014). However, more contact with diverse people does not always lead to openness; these intergroup interactions need to be positive to be most effective on adults’ intergroup attitudes (Christ et al., 2014). In fact, neighborhood effects on children’s attitudes may be dependent on not only exposure to culturally diverse neighbors but also on whether these neighbors are viewed as trustworthy and safe. Thus, the current study investigated whether children’s attitudes toward foreign cultures, namely foreign food, is related to not only neighborhood cultural diversity but also neighborhood trust.

Study Population: Eighty-eight 4- to 7-year-old children (48 females, 45 males, 8 did not report gender; Mage = 5;6, age range = 4;0-7;9; 72% White) were recruited from a science museum in the Midwestern United States.

Hypotheses: We hypothesized that children from high trust neighborhoods would be more open to foreign foods with greater neighborhood cultural diversity. In contrast, children from low trust neighborhoods would be less open to foreign foods with greater neighborhood cultural diversity. We further hypothesized that these neighborhood effects would be amplified for labeled than not labeled foreign foods.

Methods: Children’s openness towards foreign culture was assessed by asking them to rate on a 5-point scale how okay it is to eat unfamiliar foreign foods (e.g., ambuyat, a dish from Brunei), familiar western foods (e.g., mac and cheese), unconventional food combinations (e.g., milk and mustard), conventional food combinations (e.g., milk and chocolate syrup), and nonfoods (e.g., pencil). Children were randomly assigned to hear the foods described with a label (e.g., “This is wood pulp mixed with water; this is called ambuyat”) or without a label (e.g., “This is wood pulp mixed with water”). Neighborhood demographics were extracted from the U.S. census based on children’s home address zip code. Children’s neighborhood cultural diversity was calculated as the proportion of racial and linguistic outgroup population (i.e., different race individuals or speakers of a different language from the child) in the zip code. Neighborhood trust was assessed using parents’ responses to the social cohesion scale (Sampson, Raudenbush, & Earls, 1997).

Results: A significant three-way interaction among neighborhood trust, cultural diversity, and label condition was found in foreign foods only (β = -1.029, SE = 0.341, p = 0.004) controlling for population density, median income, and parental education levels. For labeled foreign foods, children from high trust neighborhoods (1SD above the mean) showed greater acceptance with greater neighborhood cultural diversity (p = .04), whereas children from low trust neighborhoods (1SD below the mean) showed no difference in acceptance with greater neighborhood cultural diversity (p = .27). There were no significant effects of neighborhood trust and cultural diversity on unlabeled foreign foods (ps > .10). Our results suggest that greater trust in neighbors in conjunction with greater cultural diversity foster more openness to foreign cultures in children.

Authors

• Hyesung Grace Hwang, University of California - Santa Cruz
  Presenting Author

• Jasmine M. DeJesus, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author

• Emily Rachel Gonsier Gerdin, Yale University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amanda Woodward, University of Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author