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Reducing Children's Implicit Racial Bias Through Exposure to Positive Out‐Group Exemplars
Author(s) -
Gonzalez Antonya M.,
Steele Jennifer R.,
Baron Andrew S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12582
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , malleability , racial bias , racial differences , intervention (counseling) , race (biology) , implicit bias , ethnic group , social psychology , encryption , botany , ciphertext , sociology , psychiatry , computer science , anthropology , biology , operating system
Studies with adults suggest that implicit preferences favoring White versus Black individuals can be reduced through exposure to positive Black exemplars. However, it remains unclear whether developmental differences exist in the capacity for these biases to be changed. This study included 369 children and examined whether their implicit racial bias would be reduced following exposure to positive Black exemplars. Results showed that children's implicit pro‐White bias was reduced following exposure to positive Black exemplars, but only for older children ( M age = ~10 years). Younger children's ( M age = ~7 years) implicit bias was not affected by this intervention. These results suggest developmental differences in the malleability of implicit racial biases and point to possible age differences in intervention effectiveness.