Experiences of and Awareness of Social Inequalities and Status Hierarchies in Childhood

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

How and when do conceptualizations and awareness of social inequalities and status hierarchies emerge in development? Being aware that status hierarchies reflect systemic biases is an important first step for rectifying and challenging social inequalities. In this symposium, presenters will report on children’s and adolescents’ awareness and knowledge about inequalities that exist in classrooms, societies, and cultures regarding race, ethnicity, wealth, gender, and their intersections. The first presenter will describe data collected in Indonesia regarding associations between political and wealth status for Native and Chinese Indonesians, demonstrating that children can represent complex status hierarchies. The second presenter will report on findings with youth regarding whether they expect their ethnic majority and minority peers to be aware of teacher biases in the classroom; results reveal that age, ethnicity, and geographic region contribute to differences regarding evaluations of peers’ reactions to teacher ethnic bias. The third presenter will describe research examining Black girls’ understanding of intersectional inequalities; the findings indicate that Black girls are aware of racial stereotypes, racial hierarchies/power, gender stereotypes, and stereotypes and hierarchies related to intersectionality, but are less aware of gender hierarchies/power. Finally, the fourth presenter will report on whether adolescents of color view status hierarchies as malleable or stable and how this contributes to their reasoning used to explain inequalities. Results indicate that having a fixed view of leadership positions may contribute to system justification unlike having a malleable view of leadership positions. Conceptualizations of social inequalities emerge in child development providing the basis for change.

Sub Unit

• Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Chairs

• Kristin J.M.B. Pauker, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

• Melanie A. Killen, University of Maryland - College Park

Individual Presentations

• Children can Represent Complex Social Status Hierarchies: Evidence From Indonesia - Presenting Author: Jamie Amemiya, University of California - San Diego; Kiara Widjanarko, University of California, San Diego; Irene Chung, University of California, San Diego; Lin Bian, University of Chicago; Gail D Heyman, University of California - San Diego

• Youth Recognize that Teacher Ethnic Biases will be Viewed Unfavorably by their Peers - Presenting Author: Melanie A. Killen, University of Maryland - College Park; Amanda Rose Burkholder, Furman University; Elizabeth Brey, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa; Dylan Cooper, University of Maryland; Kristin J.M.B. Pauker, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

• “[L]ike if you was white you would get more slack…especially in the law”: Black Girls’ Awareness of Inequality - Presenting Author: Leoandra Onnie Rogers, Northwestern University; Sohini Das, New York University; Joelle Moore; Chiara Dorsi

• Adolescents’ Malleable Beliefs About Leadership Helps Them to Recognize Inequality as Unfair - Presenting Author: Kristin J.M.B. Pauker, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa; Elizabeth Brey, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa; Amanda Rose Burkholder, Furman University; Melanie A. Killen, University of Maryland - College Park