2-055 - Unpacking Racial Prejudice: Socialization Processes in the Development of Intergroup Attitudes

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

In recent years, controversy regarding social issues such as police brutality, the global refugee crisis, immigration reform, and Britain’s exit from the European Union has created a tumultuous climate for race relations in the United States and Europe. Racial prejudice and discrimination are endemic social problems with adverse effects on the health and well being of oppressed groups. Importantly, negative attitudes about racial outgroups emerge early in childhood (Dunham, Baron, & Banaji, 2008). This raises a critical question: how and why do children develop these beliefs, and how may we intervene? The intergroup attitudes of parents and children are correlated (Degner & Dalege, 2013), but the processes underlying this link are not well understood. The goal of this symposium is to address this gap by exploring socialization processes that influence the development of children’s attitudes and behaviors regarding racial outgroups.

Together, these four presentations provide a well-rounded picture of the various pathways through which children may develop intergroup attitudes. Paper 1 focuses on self-socialization by exploring children’s preferences for ingroup-favorable information. Paper 3 examines teachers as a source of socialization, and Papers 2, 3, and 4 examine the broader social context (e.g., intergroup contact in the family’s social network) as well as the role of parents, both in terms of passive modeling and explicit instruction regarding race. The samples include a variety of ethnic groups and range from early childhood to preadolescence. This symposium has direct relevance to the Biennial Meeting’s theme of Developmental Science and Society.

Sub Unit

• Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Chairs

• Jamie Abaied, University of Vermont

• Sylvia P Perry, Northwestern University

Individual Presentations

• Young Children Seek Out Biased Information About Social Groups - Presenting Author: Harriet Over, University of York; Yarrow Dunham, yarrow.dunham@yale.edu

• Seeing Black, Seeing White: Ambiguous Categorization Outcomes for White and Black Children and their Parents - Presenting Author: Sarah Gaither, Duke University; Amanda Woodward, University of Chicago; Katherine Kinzler, Cornell University

• Learning (not) to talk about race: The role of teachers and parents - Presenting Author: Kristin Pauker, University of Hawaii Manoa; Evan Apfelbaum, MIT; Ashley Biddle, University of Hawaii, Manoa; Cara Bellwood, University of Hawaii Manoa

• Predictors of White Parents’ Motivation to Discuss Race with their Children - Presenting Author: Jamie Abaied, University of Vermont; Sylvia P Perry, Northwestern University; Sarah Stanger, University of Vermont