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This is a repository copy of Becoming us and them : Social
learning and intergroup bias.
White Rose Research Online URL for this
paper:http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/126272/
Version: Accepted Version
Article:
Over, Harriet orcid.org/0000-0001-9461-043X and McCall, Cade
Andrew orcid.org/0000-0003-0746-8899 (2018) Becoming us and them :
Social learning and intergroup bias. Social and Personality
Psychology Compass. e12384. ISSN 1751-9004
https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12384
[email protected]://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/
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BecomingUsandThem:
Sociallearningandintergroupbias
HarrietOverandCadeMcCall
UniversityofYork
Acknowledgements:ThisresearchwassupportedbytheEuropeanResearch
CouncilundertheEuropeanUnion’sHorizon2020Programme,grantnumber
ERC-STG-755719.
Addressforcorrespondence:
HarrietOver
DepartmentofPsychology
UniversityofYork
YO105DD
Email:[email protected]
Tel:+44(0)1904322096
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Abstract
Inrecentyears,researchhasdemonstratedthatthebasicfeaturesofprejudice
anddiscriminationemergeearlyinchildren’sdevelopment.Thesediscoveries
callintoquestiontheroleofsociallearninginintergroupbias.Specifically,
throughwhatmeansdowelearntodistinguish“us”from“them”?Herewe
explorethisquestion,focusingonthreekeyissues:howchildrenrespondto
biasedinformationtheyreceivefromothers,howchildrenselectivelyseekout
certaintypesofbiasedinformation,andhowchildrencommunicatebiased
informationtoothers.Weclosebydiscussingtheimplicationsofthisresearch
forinterventionstoreducestereotyping,prejudiceanddiscrimination.
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Becomingusandthem:Sociallearningandintergroupbias
Intergroupbiasremainsapowerfulanddestructiveforceinthecontemporary
world.Eveninostensiblyopensocieties,stigmatizedgroupsfacediscrimination
inemployment,housing,andthelaw(e.g.,U.S.CensusBureau,2011;Goldin,
2014).Themanyformsofprejudiceanddiscriminationleavetheirmarkon
individuals’mindsandbodiesviachronicstressandevenoutrightviolence
(Pascoe,&SmartRichman,2009;Townsend,Major,Gangi,&Mendes,2011).Ata
globallevel,intergroupconflictfuelswarswithinandbetweencountriesand
preventscooperationonpressingenvironmentalconcerns(Biliuc,McGarty,
Thomas,Lala,Berndsen,&Misajon,2015).Recentpoliticaltrendsacrossthe
globesuggestthattheseproblemsarenotabatingandmay,infact,beontherise
(e.g.,Hainsworth,2016).Giventheseriouscostsofintergroupbias,itis
imperativethatweunderstanditsnatureandorigins.
Researchrevealsthatthepsychologicaloriginsofintergroupbiasappearearlyin
development.Beforetheageoffive,childrenshowconsistentpreferencesfor
membersoftheirowngender(Shutts,Banaji,&Spelke,2010;Shutts,Roben,&
Spelke,2013),race(Baron&Banaji,2006)andlanguagegroup(Kinzler,Dupoux,
&Spelke,2007).Thesepreferencesareinextricablylinkedwithdiscriminatory
behaviour.Youngchildrenaretypicallymorelikelytohelpandsharewith
membersoftheirownsocialgroups(Buttelmann&Boehm,2014;Killen&
Verkuyten,2017;Over,2018)andtoavoidandevenbetraymembersofother
groups(Misch,Over,&Carpenter,2015;Oostenbroek&Over,2016).Negative
stereotypessurroundingspecificsocialgroupsarelearnedbytheearlyschool
yearsandconstrainchildren’sestimatesoftheirownpotential(Bian,Leslie,&
Cimpian,2017;Liben,Bigler,&Krogh,2001).
Inthispaper,wereviseandextendsociallearningaccountsofintergroupbiases,
discussingthewaysinwhichsociallearningcontributestotheoriginsofthese
socialproblems.Previousaccountsdifferintheweighttheyplaceonsocial
learning,withsometheoristssuggestingthatitcanaccountforawiderangeof
phenomenainthisarea(Allport,1954;Devine,1989)andothersarguingfora
morerestrictedrole,suggestingthatitprovides‘finetuning’forearlyemerging
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processesofcategorisationandreasoning(Aboud,1988;Dunham,Baron,&
Banaji,2008).Delineatingthewaysinwhichlearningdoesanddoesnot
contributetointergroupbiasisessentialforidentifyingwhenandhow
interventionscanreducetheprevalenceofthesesocialproblems(Paluck&
Green,2009).
Traditionalsociallearningaccountsofintergroupbiasandtheircritics
Sociallearningaccountsofintergroupbiashavedeeprootsinsocialpsychology,
datingbackatleastasfarasAllport(1954).Theideathatsociallearningwas
importantgainedincreasingsupportwiththeworkofBandura(1977)who
showedthatchildrenlearnsocialbehaviourssuchasaggressionfromobserving
otherpeople.Ithasbeenargued,byextension,thatprejudice,stereotyping,and
discriminationcouldalsobelearnedfromobservingothers(Smith&Mackie,
2007).Earlysocialisationaccountswereveryinfluentialindevelopmental
psychology,particularlyinapplieddomains,buttheyalsoprovedcontroversial.
Criticismoftheseaccountshaventakenanumberofdifferentforms.
Maturationalaccountssuggestthatintergroupbiasisprimarilytheproductof
immaturereasoningabilitiesratherthansociallearning.Oneofthemost
influentialmaturationaltheorieshasbeenofferedbyAboud(1988;Aboud&
Doyle,1996)whoarguedthatintergroupbiasisaproductofyoungchildren’s
difficultieswithmultiplecategorisationandtheirtendencytoengagein
egocentricandrigidthinking(Aboud,1988).Theseimmaturereasoning
abilities,sheargues,explaintheapparentpeakinexplicitprejudiceinmiddle
childhood.However,maturationalaccountsalonecannotexplaintheprevalence
ofprejudiceanddiscriminationamongadults.Norcantheyexplainthestability
andpersistenceofimplicitbiasesacrossdevelopment(Dunhametal.,2008).
Evolutionaryaccountshavesoughttoexplaintheprevalenceofintergroupbias
amongbothchildrenandadults.Accordingtotheseaccounts,humanshavean
evolvedtendencytoseekoutingroupmembersaspotentialco-operators
(Fishbein,1996;Lewis&Bates,2010;Tomasello,2016).Insupportofarolefor
innatearchitecture,twinstudieshaveshownthatmonozygotictwinsshow
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greaterconcordanceintermsofingroupfavouritismthandodyzgotictwins
(Lewis&Bates,2010).Furtherevidenceusedtosupporttheseclaimscomes
fromresearchwithinfantsshowingthattheyseemtoprefermembersoftheir
owngroupsbeforetheyhavehadextensiveopportunitiestolearnabouttheir
historicalandculturalsignificance(Bar-Haimetal.,2006;Conway&Schaller,
2007;Kinzler,etal.2007;Mahajan&Wynn,2012).
Finally,researcherswithinthesocialidentitytraditiontypicallyfocusonthe
importanceofsocialcategorisationasanexplanationforintergroupbiasrather
thansociallearning(Tajfel,1970;Turner,1999).Accordingtothisperspective,
intergroupbiasemergesasanaturalresultofcategorisingselfandotherin
groupterms.Insupportofthisclaim,empiricalresearchusingtheminimal
groupparadigmhasshownthatlearningaboutaparticulargroupisnot
necessaryforintergroupbiasestoemerge.Ingrouppreferenceand
discriminatorybehaviourcanbequicklyinducedinbothchildrenandadults
fromanarbitraryandapparentlymeaninglessdistinction,forexampledividing
individualsintotwogroupsonthebasisofacoinflip(Dunham,Baron,&Carey,
2011;Tajfel,1970;Turner,1999).
Revisitingsociallearningaccounts
Researchdemonstratingtheexistenceofearlyemergingbiasesandthepowerful
effectsofcategorisationhasledsomeresearcherstoquestionwhethersocial
learningplaysasignificantroleinthedevelopmentofintergroupbias.However,
thesefindingsarenotincompatiblewithasubstantial,additionalrolefor
learning(Bigler&Leaper,2015;Bigler&Liben,2007;Gelmanetal.,2004;
Kashima,2008;Rhodes,Leslie,andTworek,2012).Childrengrowupinrich
socialenvironments.Intergroupbiasissituatedwithinabroadlegal,political
andeconomiccontext.Itwouldbesurprisingifthecultureschildreninhabitdid
notsubstantiallyshapethewaysinwhichintergroupbiasesmanifestinthe
individual.Sociallearningaccountsofferustheopportunitytounderstandthese
culturalinfluencesonchildren’sintergrouppsychology.
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Severalsourcesofempiricalevidencesupportthenotionthatsociallearning
playsanimportantroleintheoriginsofintergroupbiasaboveandbeyondthe
effectsofcategorisationandearlyemergingbiases.First,culturelevel
differencesdeterminewhichgroupsarepositivelyandnegativelyevaluated.For
example,whereasdivisionsbasedonreligionmaybemoresalientinsome
culturalcontexts,divisionsbasedonraceandsocialclassaremorecommonin
others(Segall,Birnbaum,Deeb,&Diesendruck,2015).Relatedtothis,thenature
ofanygivenindividual’sbiasesvariesacrosstheparticulargroupsinquestion.
AnindividualmayhaveanequallynegativeattitudetowardsAfricanAmerican
menandSyrianrefugees,butthecontentoftheirstereotypesaboutthosegroups
islikelytodiffer(e.g.,Operario&Fiske,2001).Second,correlationalresearch
suggeststhatthereiscross-generationalsimilarityintheintergroupattitudesof
parentsandtheirchildren.Arecentmeta-analysisofover45,000parent-child
dyadssuggestsamoderateandpositiverelationshipbetweentheattitudesof
parentsandthoseoftheirchildren(Degner&Dalege,2013).Althoughcausal
inferenceremainsachallengewithcorrelationaldata,sociallearningisa
plausibleexplanationforthisassociation.Third,weknowfromresearchinother
domainsthatchildrenareprolificsociallearners(Fridland&Moore,2014;Over
&Carpenter,2012;2013).Indeed,inthedomainoftooluse,childrenaresokeen
tolearnfromotherpeoplethattheydosoevenattheexpenseofperforminga
taskefficiently(Nagell,Olguin,&Tomasello,1993;Horner&Whiten,2005;
Lyons,Young,&Keil,2007).Takentogether,thisevidencerequiresusto
considerwhethertheroleofsociallearninginthedevelopmentofintergroup
biasmayhavebeenunderestimated(Oostenbroek&Over,2016).
Thekeyquestionforthefieldisnotsomuchwhethersociallearninginfluences
thedevelopmentofintergroupbiasbutratherhowitinfluencesthedevelopment
ofintergroupbiasandhowitinteractswithothercognitiveconstraints(Bigler&
Leaper,2015;Bigler&Liben,2007;Gelmanetal.,2004;Over,Eggleston,Bell,&
Dunham,2017;Over&Cook,2018;Rhodes,etal.,2012).Experimentalresearch
directlyinvestigatingthisquestionisrelativelyrare.However,importantsources
ofevidencedoexist.Intheremainderofthispaper,wediscussexperimental
researchthatspeakstothisquestion.
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Whatfeaturesofbiascouldbesociallylearned?
Tobegindiscussingtheroleofsociallearninginmoredepth,itisnecessaryto
mapoutthetypesofinformationthatchildrenmightattendtowhenobserving
othersandreproduceintheirowninteractions(Carpenter&Call,2002;
Oostenbroek&Over,2016).First,childrenmaylearnthataparticularsocial
divisionexistsandcarriessocialmeaning(Tirell,2012).Forexample,achild
maylearnthatskincolourmarksmeaningfuldivisionsbetweensocialgroupsin
manyWesterncultureswhereaseyecolourtypicallydoesnot(Bigler&Liben,
2007).Second,childrenmaylearntoassociateparticulartraits,activities,roles
andoccupationswithparticularsocialgroups(Devine,1989;Over&Cook,
2018).Totheextentthatchildrenrigidlyapplythesegeneralisationsabout
particularsocialgroupsthroughoutdevelopment,theywillhavelearnedcultural
stereotypes(e.g.,Lurye,Zosuls,&Ruble,2009).Third,childrenmaylearna
particularattitudetowardsasocialgroupfromobservingorlisteningtoothers.
Totheextentthattheylearnanegativeattitudetowardsanothersocialgroup,
theywouldhavelearnedtobeprejudiced.Finally,childrenmaylearnanormor
socialruleabouttheappropriatewaytotreatasocialgroup.Totheextentthat
theylearntotreatsomesocialgroupsmorefavourablythanothers,theywould
havelearnedtodiscriminate.Ofcourseintherealworld,stereotypicbeliefs,
prejudicedattitudesanddiscriminatorybehaviorarecloselyintertwined.
Nevertheless,thesedistinctionsprovidevaluableconstructsforunderstanding
thepossiblemechanismsunderlyingintergroupbias(Dovidioetal.,1996).
Earlysociallearningaccountsofintergroupbiashavesometimesbeencriticized,
perhapsunfairly,forassumingthatsociallearningtakestheformofsimple
mimicryinwhichchildrenautomaticallyreproducetheattitudesandbehaviours
oftheirparents(Aboud&Doyle,1996).Inreality,therelationshipbetweenwhat
childrenobserveandwhattheylearn,however,isconsiderablymorecomplex.It
isclearfromresearchinthedomainoftoolusethatsociallearningneednot
simplybeacaseofmimickingorpassivelyabsorbinginformationfromothers
(Meltzoff,1995;Over&Carpenter,2012).Sociallearningcanalsoinvolveactive
interpretationofsocialsituationsandmakinginferencesfromlimiteddata
(Carpenter,2006;Gergely,Bekkering,&Király,2001;Meltzoff,1995;Over&
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Carpenter,2012).Applyingthisobservationtointergrouppsychology,wecan
reasonthatachildmayobservediscriminatorybehaviourandinferthata
particularattitudeisappropriatetowardsthatgroup.Alternatively,achildmay
learnanattitudefromanotherpersonandthenextrapolatewhatbehavioursare
justifiedbythatattitude(Oostenbroek&Over2016;Tirrell,2012).
Conceptualisingthesociallearningprocess
Howmightwebestconceptualisethesociallearningprocess?Traditionalsocial
learningaccountshavetendedtofocusonhowadults,mosttypicallyparents,
communicateinformationaboutsocialgroupstotheirchildren(Bandura,1977;
Degner&Dalege,2013).Thisisanimportantaspectofsociallearningbutitis
nottheonlyone.Inordertoconsidertheroleofsociallearninginmoredepth,
webroadenthefocusbyposingthreequestions.First,andmostcloselyrelated
tothemajorityofpreviousresearch,howdochildrenrespondtoandinternalize
informationaboutsocialgroupsthatispresentedtothembyothers?Inorderto
addressthisquestion,weanalysesocialpsychologicalresearchonhowprejudice
isexpressedinlanguageandbehavioranddevelopmentalresearchonhow
childrenrespondtothesebiases.Second,whattypesofinformationdochildren
seekoutaboutsocialgroups?Inordertoaddressthisquestion,wediscuss
recentworkonchildren’smodelpreferencesandinformationselectionbiases.
Third,howdochildrentransmitintergroupbiasestoothers?Inordertoaddress
thisquestion,wediscussanemergingbodyofresearchonchildren’sown
communicationofprejudiceanddiscrimination(seeFigure).
Question1:Howdochildrenrespondtoandinternalizeinformationabout
socialgroupsthatispresentedtothembyothers?
Thefirststeptowardsunderstandingtheculturaltransmissionprocessisto
understandthewaysinwhichindividualscommunicatetheirstereotypes,
attitudesandsupportfordiscriminatorysocialnormsandbehaviourtochildren.
Belowweoutlinesocialpsychologicalresearchonhowintergroupbiases
expressthemselvesincommunication,anddevelopmentalresearchonhow
thesedifferentwaysofexpressingintergroupbiasesinfluencechildren’s
attitudesandbehavior.Foreaseofexposition,westructurethisdiscussionof
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theexistingliteratureintofoursubsectionscentredaroundtheacquisitionof
groupdistinctions,stereotypes,prejudiceanddiscrimination.
Groupdistinctions.Inanygivensociety,somesocialdistinctionsaremarkedas
significantwhereasothersarenot.Researchershaveinvestigatedthetypesof
environmentalinputthatmightleadchildrentointerpretsomedimensionsof
variabilityasmoreimportantthanothersandtotreatthemincategoricalterms.
BiglerandLiben(2006)havepointedoutthatchildrenoftenobservedefacto
segregationbetweengroups,forexample,intheneighbourhoodsinwhichthey
liveorinthestructureoftheirpeers’relations.Asaresult,theymightinferthat
aparticulardistinction,likeskincolour,issociallyimportant.Insomesocieties,
socialdistinctionsbetweengroupswillbemoreclearlymarkedthanothers.For
example,theymaybehighlightedbyclothingchoiceandotherformsofbody
adornment.
Individualsmayalsocommunicatetherelativesignificanceofsocialdivisions
moresubtlythroughtheirbehaviourandlanguage.Forexample,parentswithin
Westernsocietiesregularlydrawattentiontogenderdistinctions.Evenin
infancy,toysandclothingareregularlygenderspecific(Bigler&Leaper,2015).
Withgrowinglinguisticcompetence,childrenbecomemorevulnerabletoverbal
meansofmarkingsocialdivisions.Thiscouldinvolvedirectlycontrastingone
groupwithanotherbutitcouldinvolvesomethingassimpleasusinglabelsto
refertoparticulargroups(Bigler&Liben,2006;Tirrell,2012).Gelmanetal.
(2004),forexample,investigatedhowmotherstalktotheirchildrenwhile
discussingapicturebookandfoundthatparentsoftenmarkthegenderofthe
charactersbylabellingdrawingsofchildrenaslittleboysandlittlegirls.The
extenttowhichadultsmarkaparticularsocialcategoryappearstobeinfluenced
bytheextenttowhichtheybelievethatcategoryisimportant.Segalletal.(2015)
investigatedthelanguageJewishIsraeliparents’usedtotalktotheir5-year-old
childrenaboutreligiousgroups.Theyfoundthatparentswhowerethemost
opposedtonegotiationswithPalestinianswerealsothemostlikelytomark
ethniccategoriesinconversationwiththeirchildren.Thedegreetowhichachild
encodesthesecategory-baseddifferencesislikelytohaveasignificanteffecton
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theirownintergroupbiases.Asotherdevelopmentalresearchhasshown,once
childrencategorisethemselvesasbelongingtoaparticulargroup,preferences
anddiscriminatorybehavioursfollow(Bigler&Liben,2007;Dunhametal.,
2011).
Stereotypes.ChildrenwithinWesternculturesareexposedtoaconsiderable
amountofstereotypicalinformationfromthebroaderculturalcontext.Research
withinlinguisticsandcommunicationhasshownthatstereotypesareoften
presentinvariousformsofmediadesignedspecificallyforchildren.One
exampleofthisisstereotypeconsistentrepresentationsofgenderrolesin
children’sbooks.CrabbandBielawski(1994)investigatedpresentationsof
genderinCaldecottAwardchildren’sbooks,typicallyreadbychildrenuptothe
ageof14,publishedbetween1937and1989inAmerica.Femaleswereshown
moreoftenusinghouseholdartefactsandmaleswereshownwithnon-domestic
artefacts.Interestingly,therewasnochangeinthistrendovertime,suggesting
thatatleastduringthelatterpartofthetwentiethcentury,advancesmadeby
womeninAmericancultureandtheworkforcewerenotnecessarilyreflectedin
theinformationcommunicatedtochildren.Morerecently,Hamilton,Anderson,
Broaddus,andYoung(2006)analysed200best-sellingchildren’sbooksin
Americaandfoundthatfemalesweremoreoftenpresentedinnurturingroles
thanweremalesandweremoreoftenseeninsidethehomeratherthanoutside.
Depictionsofoccupationswerealsogenderstereotyped,withmorefemales
appearingtohavenooccupationoutsidethehome.Acomparisonofthissample
ofbookstosamplesofbooksfromthe1980sand1990ssuggestedthattherehad
beennoreductioninstereotypicalcontentovertime.Otherresearchhasshown
thatthistypeofenvironmentalinputinfluenceschildren’sendorsementof
stereotypes.Flerx,Fidler,andRogers(1976)reportedthatwhen4-and5-year-
oldchildrenwereexposedtogenderegalitarianstorybooks,itreducedtheir
genderstereotyping.Generalisingfromdataasthese,SchauandScott(1984)
suggestthat,throughoutdevelopment,exposuretogenderbiasinchildren’s
booksleadstolessflexibilityinviewsofgenderrolescomparedtoexposureto
moreegalitarianmaterial.
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Adultsmayalsocommunicatestereotypestochildrenthroughtheir
conversation.Abodyofdevelopmentalresearchhasinvestigatedtheroleof
genericlanguageinchildren’sintergroupbias.Genericlanguageinvolvestalking
abouttypicalqualitiesofagivengroup.Forexample,genericstatementsmight
describeapparenttruthssuchas‘girlslikedolls’or‘Americansarefriendly’
(Gelmanetal.,2004).Researchhasshownthathearinggenericlanguageabouta
socialgroupencourageschildrentoholdessentialisedbeliefsaboutthatgroup
wherebytheycometothinkthatallindividualsfromagrouppossessabasicand
unchangeablequalityor‘essence’(Gelman,etal.2004).Inaparticularlyelegant
demonstrationofthis,Rhodesetal.(2012)introduced4-year-oldchildrentoa
novelgroupcalledZarpiesthroughapicturebook.Theindividualsinthisbook
wereeitherdescribedwithgenericlanguage(e.g.,‘Zarpiesarescaredof
ladybugs’)ornongenericlanguage(e.g.,‘ThisZarpieisafraidofladybugs’).
Childrenwhoheardthegenericdescriptionscametoholdessentialisedbeliefs
aboutthe‘Zarpie’group,thinkingthatmembersofthatgroupsharedadeep
underlyingnature.BecauseRhodesandcolleaguesusednovelgroupstowhich
childrenwerenotthemselvesassigned,theycouldconcludethatgeneric
languagealonewassufficienttogeneratetheseessentialisedbeliefsinchildren.
Prejudice.Otherresearchhasinvestigatedhowindividualsmightcommunicate
prejudicedattitudestochildren.Traditionalsociallearningaccountstendedto
focusontheeffectofhearingexplicitlynegativestatementsaboutstigmatised
socialgroups(Dalhouse&Frideres,1996).Theexplicitexpressionofprejudice
ispresumablycommonwithincertainsubgroupsandculturalcontextsmaking
thisanimportanttopicofinvestigation(Hainsworth,2016).However,inlab-
basedstudies,parentsrarelyexpressexplicitlyprejudicedattitudesin
conversationwiththeirchildren(Gelmanetal.,2004).Furthermore,atleast
withintheWest,theexplicitexpressionofprejudiceisoftenactively
discouraged.Nevertheless,prejudicedattitudescanstillbecommunicatedto
children.Extensivesocialpsychologicalresearchhasdemonstratedthat
prejudicecan‘leak’intosubtleaspectsoflanguageandbehaviour(McLoughlin&
Over,2017;Werkman,Wigboldus&Semin,1999).
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Recentresearchhassuggestedthatobservingsubtlemanifestationsofprejudice
caninfluencechildren’sintergroupattitudes.Oneroutebywhichthiscanoccur
isthroughobservingthenonverbalbehaviorofindividualsengagedin
intergroupinteractions(Weisbuch,Pauker,&Ambady,2009).Whereas
interactionswithingroupmembersaretypicallymarkedbypositivenon-verbal
signalssuchassmiling,eyecontactandphysicalproximity,interactionswith
outgroupmembersmaybemarkedbyfewersignsofpositivity(Weisbuchetal.,
2009;Word,Zanna,&Cooper,1974).Developmentalresearchhasshownthat
observingbiasednon-verbalbehaviorcaninfluencechildren’sattitudestowards
membersofcertainsocialgroups.Castelli,DeaandNesdale(2008)presented3-
to6-year-oldwhitechildrenwithvideosinwhichablackpersoninteractedwith
awhiteperson.Thenonverbalbehaviourofthewhitepersonwasmanipulated
suchthattheyeitherdisplayedeasiness(higheyecontactandphysical
closeness)oruneasiness(distanceandavoidanceofeyecontact).These
nonverbalcuesinfluencedchildren’sattitudestowardstheblackindividual,and
towardsother,unconnected,blackindividuals,suchthattheywerejudgedless
positivelyfollowingexposuretononverbalsignsofuneasiness.Thesefindings
haverecentlybeenextendedbySkinner,MeltzoffandOlson(2016)who
demonstratedthatobservingnegativenon-verbalbehaviourtowardsastranger
issufficientinandofitselftoleadchildrentoholdanegativeattitudetowards
thatpersonandtowardsthatperson’sfriends.Moreappliedresearchon
vicariouscontactlendsfurthersupporttotheclaimthatobservingintergroup
interactionsinfluenceschildren’sownintergroupattitudes.Forexample,
Cameron,Rutland,BrownandDouch(2006)foundthatreadingstoriesdepicting
intergroupfriendshipsto5-to11-year-oldEnglishchildrenledthemtohave
morepositiveattitudestowardsrefugees.
Discrimination.Sociallearningmayalsoinfluencechildren’swillingnessto
engageindiscriminatorybehaviour.Theprocessesbywhichdiscriminatory
behaviourislearnedmaybeatleastpartiallyseparablefromtheprocessesby
whichnegativeintergroupattitudesarelearned.Inprinciple,childrencould
learnadiscriminatorynormwithouthavinganegativeattitudetowardsa
particulargroup(Killen&Verkuyten,2017).Theroleofsociallearninginthe
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acquisitionofdiscriminatorybehaviourhasbeeninvestigatedwithinthecontext
ofresourcedistribution.Olson,Dweck,SpelkeandBanaji(2011)presented3-to
11-year-old(predominantlywhite)childrenwithstoriesinwhichonesocial
groupreceivedmoreresourcesthananother.Theinfluenceofthesestorieson
children’sownresourcedistributionwasthenmeasuredbygivingthemthe
opportunitytodistributeadditionalresourcestonewmembersofthesesame
groups.WhendistributingbetweenanAsianpersonandaWhiteperson,
childrenfollowedtheexampleinthestoryandunfairlyfavouredtheWhite
person.Interestingly,whendistributingbetweenaBlackpersonandaWhite
personolderchildrenrectifiedtheunfairdistributionfromthestory,distributing
moreresourcestotheBlackperson.Thisflexibilityinresponseisarguedbythe
authorstobetheresultofsocialisationpracticesemphasisingtheimportanceof
rectifyingdiscriminationexperiencedbyBlackpeoplewithintheUSA.
Question2:Whattypeofinformationdochildrenseekoutaboutsocial
groups?
Sofar,wehavediscussedhowintergroupbiasmaybetransmittedfromparents,
teachersandothermodelstochildren.Ineachoftheexamplesdiscussedabove,
thedirectionofinfluenceisfromthebroaderculturalcontexttochildren.This
formofculturaltransmissionisclearlyimportant.However,itisnotthewhole
story.Sociallearningaccountsaresometimescriticisedforassumingthat
childrenaremerely‘blankslates’ontowhichtheeffectsoflearningslowly
accumulate(Aboud,1988).However,sociallearningaccountsneednotbe
committedtothisassumptionofpassivity.Inordertounderstandthesocial
learningprocess,wealsoneedtounderstandhowchildrenthemselvesengagein
andinfluencelearningsituations(Degner&Dalege,2013).Oneimportantaspect
ofthisrelatestowhichinformationchildrenchoosetolearn.Researchon
children’slearningaboutthephysicalworldhasshownthattheymakechoices
aboutwhomtolearnfrombasedontheirpreviousreliability,apparentprestige,
age,andthenatureoftheirpersonalrelationshipwiththem(Chudek,Heller,
Birch,&Henrich,2012;Harris,2007).Thisselectivityinsociallearningis
typicallyreferredtoas‘modelchoice’.
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Thetopicofmodelchoicehasnotbeenwidelyinvestigatedwithinthedomainof
intergroupbias.However,onerelevantsetofstudieshasbeenconductedby
Overandcolleagues.Overetal.(2017)investigatedwhetherchildrenpreferto
learnfrommodelswhoarebiasedinfavouroftheirowngroup.Overand
colleaguesallocated5-and6-year-oldchildrentooneoftwogroupsandthen
presentedthemwithachoicebetweenwhichoftwostoriestheywantedtohear.
Whereasoneoftheauthorswasdescribedasfavouringtheirowngroupand
disfavouringtheothergroup,theotherwasdescribedasfavouringtheother
groupanddisfavouringchildren’sowngroup.Intwostudies,childrenshoweda
strongtendencytochoosetohearthestorythatfavouredtheirowngroup.
Furthermore,hearingtheingroupfavouringstoryledtoanincreaseinchildren’s
intergroupbias,suggestingthatchildrenwerechoosingtherawmaterialfrom
whichtofurnishtheirownintergroupattitudes.Inthissense,children’sown
choicessetintomotionafeedbackloop.Afurtherstudydemonstratedthat
childrenpreferingroupfavouringinformationeventobalanced,unbiased
information(Overetal.,2017).Thisbiasininformationseekingcanbeviewedas
asimpleformofnicheconstructioninwhichchildrencreatesituationswhere
theyaremorelikelytobeexposedtosometypesofinformationthanothers
(Flynn,Laland,Kendal,&Kendal,2013).Itisimportanttoconsiderhowthisbias
mightoperateacrossdevelopment.Aschildrengrowolder,theyhaveincreasing
scopeforchoosingtheinformationtheyconsumeand,oncetheyengagein
extensiveactivitiesonline,thisscopeforchoiceexpands(andbecomesyetmore
difficulttosupervise)(Kahanetal.,2012).
Question3:Howdochildrentransmitintergroupbiasestoothers?
Inordertounderstandtheculturaltransmissionprocess,itisnecessaryto
appreciatethatchildrenarenotonlytherecipientsofculturaltransmission,but
agentsofculturaltransmissionwiththepotentialtocommunicateprejudiceand
discriminationtoothers(Overetal.,2017).Childrenmayexertasystematic
influenceovertheattitudesandbehaviouroftheirpeersandperhapsevenover
thoseoftheirparents(Bigler&Liben,2007;Degner&Dalege,2013;Harris
1998;Paluck,2016).Thereisrelativelylittleexperimentalresearchonhow
childrencommunicateintergroupbiastoothers,perhapsbecauseresearchhas
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15
tendedtofocusprimarilyonchildrenasrecipientsofsocialinformation.
However,itispossibletopiecetogethersomeimportantevidencerelatingto
howchildrencommunicatetoothersaboutsocialgroups.
Stereotypes.Researchsuggeststhatchildrensometimesexplicitlycommunicate
stereotypestotheindividualsaroundthem.Forexample,theymaydirectly
enforcestereotypeconsistentbehaviourontheirpeers.Weknowfromresearch
inotherdomainsthat,fromatleasttheageof3,childrenregularlyenforce
adherencetoconventionalnormsonothers(Rakoczy,Warneken&Tomasello,
2008).Thistendencyextendstopolicingactivitiesthataretypicalofthegroup
(Killen&Rutland,2011).Takingtheexampleofgender,Fagot(1977)
investigated3-and4-yearoldchildren’sreactionstogendercounter-
stereotypicalbehaviouramongtheirpeers.Shefoundthatchildrencriticised
boysforengaginginstereotypicallyfemininebehaviours
Childrenmayalsoinadvertentlycommunicatestereotypestotheirpeersthrough
otheraspectsoftheirbehaviour.Onewayinwhichthiscanoccurissimplyby
repeatedlyactinginlinewithculturalstereotypes,thusprovidingmodelsof
culturallytypicalbehaviour.Thiscanagainbeillustratedthroughadherenceto
genderstereotypes.BanerjeeandLintern(2000)demonstratedthat4-to6-year-
oldboysconformtogendernormsanddosomoreoftenwhentheyarebeing
observedbytheirpeersthanwhentheyareinprivate.Byengaginginreputation
managementinthisway,theyprovidemodelsofnormativebehaviourtothose
aroundthem.Moreover,thefactthattheyaremorelikelytoexhibitnormative
behaviourinthepresenceofotherssuggeststhattheymaybehaveinstereotype
consistentmanner,thusprovidingstereotypicalmodelsofbehaviourtoothers,
evenwhentheydonotnecessarilyendorsethosestereotypesthemselves.
Prejudice.Childrenmayalsocommunicateintergroupattitudestotheirpeers.
Onewayinwhichthiscanhappenisthroughexplicitchoicesrelatingtowhat
informationotherindividualshearorread.Overandcolleagues(Overetal.,
2017)investigatedwhether5-to6-year-oldchildrenseektocommunicate
biasedinformationaboutsocialgroupstoothers.Theyallocatedfive-andsix-
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16
year-oldchildrentooneoftwominimalgroupsandthenaskedthemwhichstory
theywouldlikeanotherchildtohear–onethatwasbiasedinfavourofthe
participants’owngrouporonethatwasbiasedinfavouroftheothergroup.The
majorityofparticipantspreferredtheotherchildtohearinformationthatwas
biasedinfavouroftheirowngroup.Thisstudysuggeststhatchildren
sometimesmakeexplicitchoicestocommunicatebiasedinformationtoothers.
Onepossiblemechanismforthisisadesiretomanagethereputationoftheir
socialgroup,whichispresentfromatleasttheageoffiveinchildrenfrom
Westernculturalbackgrounds(Engelmann,Herrmann,&Tomasello,2017).
Intergroupbiasesmayalsobecommunicatedmoresubtly,andperhapseven
inadvertently,throughlanguage.Oneinterestingtopicwithinthisgeneral
domainistheuseofdehumanizinglanguage(Haslam&Loughnan,2014;Leyens
etal.,2000).Relatedtothis,McLoughlinandOver(2017)investigatedhow5-
and6-year-oldchildrenspontaneouslydescribetheactionsofingroupmembers
andoutgroupmembers.Theyfoundthatchildrenrefertomentalstates,suchas
whatindividualsbelieve,thinkandfeel,lessoftenwhentalkingaboutmembers
ofanoutgroup.Thiseffectheldacrosstwodifferenttypesofgroupdivision–
thosebasedongenderandnationality.Itremainsforfutureresearchto
determinewhetherhearinglanguageofthissortinfluenceschildren’sattitudes
andbehaviour(McLoughlin&Over,2018).
Discrimination.Verylittleresearchhasdirectlyinvestigatedhowchildren
mightcommunicatediscriminationorsupportfordiscriminationtoother
people.However,totheextentthatchildrenengageindiscriminatorybehaviour
themselves,theyprovidemodelsfortheirpeersofhowtotreatmembersof
differentsocialgroups.Weknowfrompreviousresearchthat,withinlab-based
settings,childrentypicallydistributemoreresourcestomembersoftheirown
group(Dunhametal.,2011;Over,2018),offermorehelptomembersoftheir
owngroup(Sierskma,Thijs,&Verkuyten,2014)andshowloyaltytomembersof
theirowngroup(Misch,Over,&Carpenter,2015).Inadditiontomodelling
discriminatorybehaviour,childrenmayalsoprovidemodelsofpassivityinthe
faceofotherpeople’sdiscriminatorybehaviour,failingtointervenetoencourage
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17
moreegalitarianrelations(Ploetner,Over,Carpenter,&Tomasello,2015).The
observationthatchildreninfluencethosearoundthemhasimportantapplied
implicationsbecauseitsuggeststhattheeffectsofinterveningtomodifythe
behaviourofcertainindividualswithinasocialnetworkmayspreadtoother
individualswithinthatnetwork(Paluck&Green,2009;Paluck,Shepherd,&
Aronow,2016).Thisisanissuetowhichwereturnbelow.
Implicationsforinterventions
Formanyresearchers,theacademicstudyofintergroupbiasisintimately
connectedwiththedesireforresearch-ledinterventionstoreduceprejudiceand
discrimination.Differenttheoreticalperspectivesonthedevelopmentof
intergroupbiassuggestdifferentroutestointervention.Socialproblemsas
complexasprejudiceanddiscriminationrequireaconcertedeffortfrom
differentapproachesand,ofcourse,differentacademicdisciplines.
Psychologicalinterventionsthatstemfromasociallearningperspectivehave
typicallysoughttocontributetothismissionbyemphasisingtheimportanceof
modifyingtheculturalinputavailabletochildren,forexamplesupporting
egalitarianorcounterstereotypicmodels(Schau&Scott,1984).Theresearchwe
havehighlightedinthisreviewsuggestssomeimportantconsiderationsfor
futureinterventions.First,researchinthisfielddemonstratestheimportanceof
modifyingsubtleexpressionsofstereotypes,prejudiceanddiscriminationin
children’smediaaswellastheirmoreexplicitexpressions.Italsosuggests,
however,thatmodifyingtheavailableculturalinputisnotenoughtoameliorate
thesesocialproblems.Ifchildrenareuninterestedinegalitarianmaterialor
models,theirpotentialtomodifyattitudesandbehaviourwillremainunfulfilled
(Overetal.2017).Thusinterventionsalsoneedtoconsiderhowchildrencanbe
encouragedtoreadandengagewithegalitarianmaterialandhowthematerials
themselvescanbeconstructedtobemoreappealing.Beyondthese
observations,sociallearningaccountsmakeonefurthercontributiontothe
interdisciplinarymissiontoreduceintergroupbias.Understandinghow
egalitarianattitudesandbehaviourcanspreadthroughchildren’ssocial
networkscanhelpbroadenthescopeofinterventions,makingthembothmore
powerfulandmorecosteffective.Forexample,Paluckandcolleaguesusedsocial
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18
networkanalyses,andparticularlyunderstandingofwhichmodelsarethemost
influential,toencouragethespreadofinterventionsamonghighschoolstudents
(Palucketal.,2016).Thisexcitingnewapproachsuggeststhatbiasreduction
mayflourishonitsownoncetheseedsaresown.
Conclusions
Thepicturethatemergesfromthisreviewisoneinwhichsociallearningshapes
children’sintergroupbeliefs,attitudesandbehaviours.Justaschildrenlearn
aboutthephysicalworldthroughotherpeople(Carpenter&Call,2002;Meltzoff,
1995)sotoodotheylearnaboutthesocialworld.Inmakingthisargument,we
donotseektominimisethecontributionofotherfactors.Sociallearningclearly
interactswithothercognitiveprocesses.Itisguidedandconstrainedbyinnate
patternsandthemoregeneraleffectsofcategorisingoneselfaspartofagroup.
Sociallearningissometimespresentedasanalternativetoevolutionaryorself-
categorizationaccountsbutwerejectthisdichotomy.Sociallearningcanhelp
explainhowtheboundariesandassociationsofspecificcategoriesare
constructedwithinagivenindividualandhowthatconstructionisinfluencedby
theenvironment.Socialcategoriesandthecognitivemechanismsthatsupport
themcan,inturn,shapechildren’ssubsequentlearning(Bigler&Liben,2007;
Gelmanetal.,2004;Oostenbroek&Over,2016;Rhodes,etal.2012).
Wehaveofferedasociallearningaccountofintergroupbiasthat,liketraditional
sociallearningaccounts,emphasizestheculturalenvironmentasanimportant
contributingfactortointergroupbias.Wehaveaddedtothistraditionby
incorporatingrecentadvancesindevelopmentalandsocialpsychology.For
example,wehavehighlightedtheeffectsofsubtleexpressionsofintergroup
biasesaswellasmoreexplicitformsofcommunication(Weisbuchetal.,2009;
Skinneretal,2016).Inaddition,wehaveemphasisedworkdemonstratingthat
sociallearningisnotrestrictedtosimplemimicry(Overetal.,2017).Finally,
ratherthanpostulatingapassiveroleforthechildintheculturaltransmission
process,wehaveemphasisedthatchildrenareactiveagentswhomakechoices
aboutwhatinformationtheyconsumeandhowtheycommunicatewithothers
(Bigler&Liben,2007;Palucketal.,2016).
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19
Attitudesandbehaviourstowardsdifferentgroupscanbetransmittedbetween
andacrossgenerationsthroughmultipledifferentmechanisms.Our
understandingofthesemechanismsnecessarilyshapesthewaysinwhichwetry
(orfail)tointervenetopreventormitigateintergroupbias.Developmental
psychologyhasacriticalroletoplayinidentifyingeffectivepsychological
interventionsforreducingprejudiceanddiscriminationinthenextgeneration.
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20
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Figure.Examplesofsociallearningprocessesandthenegativeconsequences
thatcanbetheresult.
