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The Influence of Race and Gender on Children’s Conversations and Playmate Choices
Author(s) -
Leman Patrick J.,
Lam Virginia L.
Publication year - 2008
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/j.1467-8624.2008.01191.x
Subject(s) - race (biology) , psychology , friendship , developmental psychology , preference , conversation , ethnic group , social psychology , gender studies , sociology , anthropology , communication , economics , microeconomics
The present study examined the influence of race and gender on children’s conversations and friendship choices. Four hundred and twenty‐eight children ( M age = 7.5 years, SD = 0.34) from 2 racial minority groups (i.e., African Caribbean and South Asian) and the racial majority group (i.e., European) chose a picture of a playmate together with a peer. Race influenced the levels of assertion and affiliation in children’s conversations. The effects of race on conversation also varied according to the gender of the children involved in interaction. Same‐race pairs tended to choose in‐group playmates, but same‐race minority pairs showed less marked in‐group preference. Cross‐race pairs selected a majority‐group child as a playmate most often.