Exploring the out-group homogeneity effect among Arab children in Israel

• In Event: 3-027 - The socialization of prejudice: New insights from international samples

Integrative Statement

Adults and children tend to favor their in-group over out-groups. One conceptual bias thought to underlie such inter group biases is "the out-group homogeneity effect"; i.e., the belief that whereas the in-group consists of unique and differentiated individuals, the out-group consists of homogeneous members. A recent study revealed such an effect among majority children in Israel and Germany (Shilo, Weinsdörfer, Rakoczy, & Diesendruck, 2018). The present studies explored whether such an effect is manifested also in minority children, in particular, Muslim Arab children living in Israel.
In Study 1, we hypothesized that if Arab children view out-group members (i.e., Jews) more qua tokens of a homogenous type than in-group members (i.e., Arabs), then they should make broader inductive inferences about the whole group from more restricted information about individual members. We recruited 173, 5- and 7-year-olds from a mixed Arab-Jewish city, and from an exclusively Arab city. Children were introduced to a game where they had to determine whether or not certain properties were true of a whole group. In half of the trials the questions were about biological properties (e.g., "whether Jews/Arabs have blood type F"), and in the other half about psychological properties (e.g., "whether Jews/Arabs prefer cucumbers over tomatoes"). Half of the questions were about their in-group (Arabs), and half about their out-group (Jewish). For each question, children had to choose one of two samples: either a homogeneous sample (e.g., “three adults”), or a heterogeneous sample (e.g., “one adult, one child, and one old person”). The findings were quite different from those found among Jewish majority children (Shilo et al. 2018). Namely, whereas 5-year-olds responded similarly on in- and out-group trials, 7-year-olds revealed a complex pattern. Specifically, regarding biological properties, they chose heterogeneous samples significantly more than expected by chance for the out-group but not the in-group, and vice-versa regarding psychological properties (see Figure 1).
In Study 2, we focused on another manifestation of homogeneity. Namely, we examined whether Arab children tend to explain the behavior of out-group members by reference to group membership, but explain the behavior of in-group members by reference to idiosyncratic properties. To test this, we recruited 62, 5- and 7-year-olds from an exclusively Arab city. Children were presented with a series of novel behaviors displayed by three in-group or out-group members (e.g., “drinks damta”), and were then asked to explain why a fourth group member behaved in the same manner. We found that across both age groups, Arab children preferentially used individual explanations, and did so equally for in- and out-group members (see Figure 2). The lack of robust effects of group membership in minority children’s reasoning contrasts with the patterns found among majority children. This hints to the complexity of establishing group identity among minority populations. Two possibilities we are currently exploring are that: a) the solidification of group identity is more protracted among minority children, and b) the definition of the in-group is more circumscribed. These are critical matters for understanding the healthy social development of minority children.

Authors

• Francine Essa, Bar-Ilan University
  Presenting Author

• Reut Shilo, Bar-Ilan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Anika Weinsdorfer, University of Gottingen
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hannes Rakoczy, University of Gottingen
  Non-Presenting Author

• Gil Diesendruck, Bar-Ilan University
  Non-Presenting Author