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Loss of Institutional Trust Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Adolescents: A Consequence of Procedural Injustice and a Cause of Life‐Span Outcomes
Author(s) -
Yeager David S.,
PurdieVaughns Valerie,
Hooper Sophia Yang,
Cohen Geoffrey L.
Publication year - 2017
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.12697
Subject(s) - psychology , ethnic group , discernment , injustice , white (mutation) , racial bias , life span , causality (physics) , social psychology , developmental psychology , racism , gerontology , medicine , gender studies , sociology , philosophy , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , anthropology , gene
This research tested a social‐developmental process model of trust discernment. From sixth to eighth grade, White and African American students were surveyed twice yearly (ages 11–14; Study 1, N = 277). African American students were more aware of racial bias in school disciplinary decisions, and as this awareness grew it predicted a loss of trust in school, leading to a large trust gap in seventh grade. Loss of trust by spring of seventh grade predicted African Americans’ subsequent discipline infractions and 4‐year college enrollment. Causality was confirmed with a trust‐restoring “wise feedback” treatment delivered in spring of seventh grade that improved African Americans’ eighth‐grade discipline and college outcomes. Correlational findings were replicated with Latino and White students (ages 11–14; Study 2, N = 206).