Poster #16 - Automatic Encoding of Race, Gender, and Occupational Status in American Children and Adults

• In Event: Poster Session 09

Abstract

Many caregivers wonder when to talk to children about social inequality, sexism, and racism, often expressing the belief that children as young as 4- or 5-years-old do not pay attention to race, gender, or inequity. While some argue for waiting until children are older to talk about these topics, other encourage discussion at early ages. To mediate this debate, it is necessary to understand when children begin noticing and making inferences about social categories where inequity is rampant, including race, status, and gender. Here, across 5- to 9-year-old American children (n = 159, mage = 7.44; 51.6% female, 42.6% male, 1.2% non-conforming; 63.4% White, 33% racial-ethnic minority, 5.5% not provided) and adults (n = 182, 84.1% female, 13.7% male, 2.2% non-conforming or not provided, 55.5% White, 33% racial-ethnic minority, 2% not provided), we investigate when children begin to spontaneously encode and remember race, status, and gender cues utilizing an child-friendly version of the classic “Who-Said-What” paradigm (Taylor et al., 1978) which assesses whether children use category membership when tasked with remembering arbitrary facts about novel individuals who vary in social group memberships (e.g., Man vs Woman, Black vs White, High Occupational Status, e.g. Businessperson vs Low Occupational Status, e.g. Janitor ). Our results show that even 5-year-olds automatically encoded (i.e., spontaneously notice and remember) information about race and status. Although encoding of gender was stable across this developmental period, automatic encoding of both race and status increased across childhood and encoding of all three social categories was present in adults (Fig. 1). Further, our results indicate some evidence of environmental impact on how children encode these categories. Children living in less affluent neighborhoods (measured by median family income in each child’s ZIP code) encoded status and race, but not gender, at higher rates than those living in more affluent neighborhoods (Fig. 2). This suggests that children become tuned in to relevant, salient aspects of their environment. Together our results show that people, starting at a young age, spontaneously notice and remember race, gender, and status. By clarifying when children start to encode these social categories, we hope to empower educators and caregivers to discuss sensitive topics like racism, sexism, and inequity with children at a young age.

Authors

• Jordan Keoni Legaspi, University of Massachusetts Amherst
  Presenting Author

• Tara Mandalaywala, University of Massachusetts Amherst