1-007 - Challenging Social Inequalities and Social Exclusion: A Developmental Intergroup Perspective

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The fair and equitable treatment of others is central to morality. Yet inequalities and exclusion exist from an early age and present a challenge to developmental psychologists. Children are tested by contexts involving resource allocation and social exclusion, especially when they are intergroup ones in which group memberships and norms are relevant (Killen & Rutland, 2011; Rutland, Killen & Abrams, 2010). This symposium includes recent international research showing how a developmental intergroup perspective can help us understand how children challenge inequalities and exclusion. The symposium will include studies involving simulated groups through to real-world minority status groups. The first paper considers how group norms influence whether British children and adolescents challenge inequality, revealing key developmental trends in how individuals learn to balance group and moral concerns. The next paper examines how U.S. children evaluate social exclusion based upon language differences, finding that with age children increasingly challenge exclusion though they are less confident their peers will do so. The third paper teases apart how wealth status and race influence U.S. children’s inclusion and exclusion decisions, demonstrating the importance of children’s own perceived wealth status. The final paper examines how majority status British children respond as bystanders to the social exclusion of Gypsy Travelers, showing that both acts of verbal aggression and deviant group behavior are not liked when they go against a group norm of helping. This international symposium shows how a developmental intergroup perspective can inform research and educational policy towards challenging inequality and exclusion based on group membership.

Sub Unit

• Moral Development

Chairs

• Luke McGuire, Goldsmiths

• Adam Rutland, Goldsmiths (University of London)

Individual Presentations

• Developmental and normative influences on whether children and adolescents rectify intergroup inequality - Presenting Author: Luke McGuire, Goldsmiths; Laura Elenbaas, University of Maryland; Adam Rutland, Goldsmiths (University of London); Melanie Killen, University of Maryland, College Park

• Rectifying Intergroup Inequity: Challenging Social Exclusion Based on Language - Presenting Author: Kelly Lynn Mulvey, University of South Carolina; Kate Niehaus, University of South Carolina; Corey Boswell, University of South Carolina; Victoria Rizzardi, University of South Carolina

• Wealth and race: Children’s inclusion decisions in intergroup peer contexts - Presenting Author: Amanda R. Burkholder, University of Maryland; Laura Elenbaas, University of Maryland; Melanie Killen, University of Maryland, College Park

• How do children and adolescents evaluate bystander responses to help or ignore intergroup bullying? - Presenting Author: Sally Palmer, Institute Of Education, University College London; Aline Hitti, University of San Francisco; Dominic Abrams, University of Kent; Melanie Killen, University of Maryland, College Park; Lindsey Cameron, University of Kent