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The Influence of Direct and Overheard Messages on Children's Attitudes Toward Novel Social Groups
Author(s) -
Lane Jonathan D.,
Conder Emily B.,
Rottman Joshua
Publication year - 2019
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.13238
Subject(s) - psychology , hearsay , developmental psychology , ingroups and outgroups , social cognition , social psychology , cognition , neuroscience , political science , law
Individuals often develop negative biases toward unfamiliar or denigrated groups. Two experimental studies were conducted to investigate the extent to which brief negative messages about novel social groups influence children's (4‐ to 9‐year‐olds'; N = 153) intergroup attitudes. The studies examined the relative influence of messages that are provided directly to children versus messages that are overheard and examined whether the force of these messages varies with children's age. According to implicit and explicit measures of children's intergroup attitudes, children rapidly internalized messages demeaning novel groups, thus forming negative attitudes toward outgroups merely on the basis of hearsay. These effects were generally stronger among older children, and were particularly pronounced when the message was provided directly to children.