The Antecedents & Consequences of Structural Explanations for Social Disparities

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Children are born into a social world filled with disparities – in achievement, status, and material resources. From a young age, children not only notice these disparities, but they also intuitively attribute them to intrinsic causes, like differences in groups’ innate abilities, intelligence, or inherent natures (Cimpian, 2015). This “essentialist” explanatory heuristic leads children to assume that marginalized groups must be intrinsically inferior, promoting prejudice (see Rhodes & Mandalaywala, 2017 for review) and harming marginalized children’s self-image.
As causal-explanatory processes are malleable in response to inputs and learning, emerging research examines whether certain inputs can support children in making “structural” explanations, or attributing disparities to extrinsic causes like differences in groups’ circumstances, opportunities, or treatment. Through structural explanations, children can recognize marginalized groups as extrinsically disadvantaged rather than intrinsically inferior.
This symposium presents research from around the globe investigating children’s structural explanations for disparities in social status (Paper 1), incarceration rates (Paper 2), and academic achievement (Paper 3). Papers investigate several antecedents of structural reasoning (developmental shifts, Papers 1 and 2; family background, Papers 2 and 3; highlighting extrinsic causes, Papers 1 and 3) as well as their consequences (on social attitudes, Papers 1 and 2; on social change strategies, Paper 1; on self-image and motivation, Paper 3). Papers present converging evidence that, although children default to essentialist explanations for observed disparities, they can overcome this tendency when supported by certain experiences and developmental shifts. An expert on essentialism, explanation, and social cognition will discuss these findings’ ramifications for social development.

Sub Unit

• Social Cognition

Chair

• Rebecca Peretz-Lange, SUNY Purchase

Discussant

• Andrei Cimpian, New York University

Individual Presentations

• The Development and Consequences of Structural Reasoning about Social Status - Presenting Author: Rebecca Peretz-Lange, SUNY Purchase; Non-Presenting Author: Jennifer Perry, Harvard University; Non-Presenting Author: Paul Muentener, Tufts University

• The Development and Consequences of Structural Explanations for Criminal Legal System Contact - Presenting Author: James Dunlea, Columbia University; Non-Presenting Author: Larisa Heiphetz Solomon, Columbia University

• How can Inherent (vs. Extrinsic) Explanations for Differences in the Classroom Amplify Academic Inequalities? - Presenting Author: Sébastien Goudeau