Poster #35 - Informational Bias about Real and Minimal In- and Out-Groups Among Arab Children in Israel

• In Event: Poster Session 17

Abstract

Research suggests that adults, and possibly children, construe in- and out-groups differently. Namely, whereas the former is viewed as a heterogeneous set of unique individuals, the latter is construed as a homogeneous category. To date, most such studies have been conducted with children from majority groups (e.g., Whites in the U.S., Jews in Israel), thus leaving open the question whether this is an “out-group” bias or a “minority” bias. The present studies assessed whether Arab children in Israel – a minority group – manifest an out-group homogeneity bias. In particular, we investigated whether children’s informational interests evince this biased construal of in- and out-groups, and whether this bias applies only to their construal of real-world familiar groups, or more generally to any group.
In Study 1, 64 Arab children from two age groups (kindergarteners and 2nd graders) saw pictures of unfamiliar individuals (boys and girls) from children’s in-group (an Arab) or out-groups (a Jew -- a “conflict” out-group, and a Scot -- a “neutral” out-group), and were asked – 4 times – whether they want to know information about the depicted individual (e.g., “Ahmed”) or his/her category (e.g., “Arabs”). As can be seen in Figure 1, we found that children from both age groups asked for more category information regarding out-groups than in-group, thus evincing a biased construal.
To rule out the possibility that the findings from Study 1 resulted exclusively from differences in children’s familiarity with the different social groups, and to assess the generality of this construal bias, we conducted a second study in which children were exposed to minimal, rather than real-world, groups. In Study 2, 64 Arab children from the two age groups were arbitrarily assigned to either the “Diamonds” or the “Stars” group. They were shown pictures of unfamiliar individuals (boys and girls) from children’s minimal in-group (e.g., “Diamonds”) or out-group (e.g., “Stars”), and were asked whether they want to know information about the individual (e.g., “A boy from the Diamonds group”) or his/her category (e.g., “Diamonds”). As can be seen in Figure 1, we found that whereas 2nd graders asked for more category information regarding out- than in-group, kindergarten did not.
These studies reveal Arab children’s biased preference for information about both real-world and minimal in- and out-groups. They suggest that an intergroup construal bias is present already at age 5 among children from a minority group, primarily regarding real-world groups. These findings are consistent with the claim that this is a fundamental conceptual bias, rather than one resulting from familiarity differences, and that it derives from one’s group membership, rather than one’s group status.

Authors

• Yara Nassir, Bar-Ilan university
  Presenting Author

• Meytal Nasie, Tel Aviv University

• Gil Diesendruck, Bar Ilan University