The dichotomy of distance: Effects of social context on the implications of psychological distance

• In Event: Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Topic - Social Cognition

Abstract

How does social context affect children’s representations of distance? On the one hand, self-distancing can improve children’s executive functioning (White & Carlson, 2015; Grenell et al., 2018). On the other hand, perceptions of distance can hold severe negative consequences: Children ascribe fewer mental states and less humanity to geographically distant (vs. close) others (McLoughlin, Tipper, & Over, 2017; McLoughlin & Over, 2017). Given this dichotomy, our goal was to explicitly test whether children’s perceptions of distance hold different meanings depending on social context.

We introduced 4-6-year-old children to one of two characters: Someone from their town who spoke their language (Ingroup condition) or someone from far away who spoke a different language (Outgroup condition). We asked children to pretend to be this character while completing a series of tasks. After, we asked children to indicate how distant the character felt using five concentric circles (the innermost representing things “like them” and the outermost representing things “not like them”). Next, children were asked how strong, smart, nice and knowledgeable the character was from “not at all” to “very” (scored 1-3). Data collection was terminated early due to COVID-19, but we analyzed preliminary data from these questions (N = 31; 16 girls; Mage = 5.3 years, SD = 0.783).

Overall, children rated the Outgroup character (M = 3.39) as more distant than the Ingroup character (M =2.07). However, the effect of perceived distance on children’s average character evaluations (across the four ratings) varied by condition, B = - .33, p = .025. Whereas greater perceived distance predicted more positive evaluations in the Ingroup condition, greater perceived distance predicted more negative evaluations in the Outgroup condition (Figure 1). Moreover, children’s evaluations predicted their willingness to pretend: children who rated the character more positively were more willing to pretend to be them, B = 0.69, p = .013; this effect was particularly pronounced in the Outgroup condition (Figure 2).

An online study designed to replicate and extend these results is currently underway. Here, 72 4–6-year-old children will be assigned to the Ingroup or Outgroup condition described above. Children will complete the same distance measure and character evaluations. After completing these measures, children will additionally be introduced to the character they are not assigned to, and asked which character (Ingroup or Outgroup) they would rather have as their avatar in a game. Last, children will be asked to pretend to be each character in short scenarios (e.g., asking for a snack, falling down and getting hurt). We predict that the effect of distance on character evaluations and willingness to pretend will again vary by condition, such that distance holds positive implications in the Ingroup condition, but negative implications in the Outgroup condition.

These results extend past research by explicitly demonstrating that young children hold dual representations of distance. Although distance can hold benefits, it can also promote negative intergroup attitudes. A better understanding of this duality of children’s reasoning about distance can hold implications for the use of distance in future studies and interventions.

Authors

• Kyra Hunsberger, Cornell University
  Presenting Author

• Isobel A Heck, University of Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Charlotte Sophia Borgers, Cornell University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cristina Atance, University of Ottawa
  Non-Presenting Author

• Tamar Kushnir, Duke Univeristy
  Non-Presenting Author