Toddlers and Infants Hold an Abstract Expectation of Ingroup Loyalty

• In Event: 3-032 - Choosey children: early-emerging sophistication in children’s partner choice decisions

Integrative Statement

Infants and young children prefer speakers of their native language over foreign speakers and also align their toy and snack choices with those of native speakers (e.g., Kinzler et al., 2007; Shutts et al., 2009). One interpretation of these preferences is that they are driven by familiarity or similarity: perhaps infants and toddlers prefer adults whose language is familiar, or similar to their own language (e.g., Dunham et al., 2008). Another interpretation is that these preferences are driven by an abstract expectation of ingroup loyalty (e.g., Baillargeon et al., 2015). To examine these possibilities, we used third-party tasks to investigate whether toddlers and infants would expect individuals in novel social groups to prefer and align with ingroup members.

Project 1 examined whether toddlers and infants would expect an unfamiliar woman to prefer an ingroup member. In the first two trials of the two-group condition, three unfamiliar women declared their group memberships using novel labels: A1 said, “I’m a lutak!”, A2 said, “I’m a lutak, too!”, and B1 said, “I’m a scobbie!”. In the next trial, A2 was absent, and A1 and B1 read identical books. In the test trial, A2 returned and asked either A1 (expected event) or B1 (unexpected event), “Can I read with you?” Toddlers looked reliably longer at the unexpected than at the expected event, suggesting that they expected A2 to prefer ingroup A1 over outgroup B1. This result was not driven by simple similarity: in a no-group condition, group markers were removed (the women said, “I saw a lutak!”, “I saw a lutak, too!”, and “I saw a scobbie!”), and toddlers looked equally at the test events. 12-month-olds showed a similar effect when group membership was marked by salient outfits, but the effect was eliminated when the outfits did not serve as group markers.

Project 2 examined whether 2-year-olds would expect an unfamiliar woman to select the same toy endorsed by an ingroup member. In the first two trials of the two-group condition, labels were again used to mark groups. In the next trial, A2 was absent, and A1 and B1 each played with a different toy. Identical copies of the two toys were available at the center of the apparatus floor. In the test trials, A2 returned and selected the available toy identical to A1’s (expected event) or B1’s (unexpected event). Toddlers looked reliably longer at the unexpected than at the expected event, suggesting that they expected A2 to select the ingroup toy as opposed to the outgroup toy. The same effect was obtained in a secret-preference condition where toddlers were first shown that A2 secretly preferred the toy endorsed by outgroup B1. Finally, the effect found in the two-group condition was eliminated (a) in a no-group condition using “I saw” phrases and (b) in an outgroup-absent condition where B1 left before A2 chose a toy.

Together, these results indicate that toddlers and infants possess an abstract sense of ingroup loyalty and expect individuals from novel groups to prefer and align with ingroup members.

Authors

• Lin Bian, Cornell University
  Presenting Author

• Renee Baillargeon, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Non-Presenting Author