After the age of 7 years several studies have found that explicit attitudes become more egalitarian, whereas children continue to show implicit bias. What remains to be analyzed is the role of social factors on the self-report and indirect measure of prejudice. Schools are social contexts of interaction among ethnic groups. Recent research focused on prejudice and its correlates among children focused on the relationship among the information on social context and the expression of prejudice, arguing on the importance to disentangle the direction of this relationship. The aim of this study is to evaluate this issue among children enrolled in primary school programs. We measured (N = 216) implicit and explicit prejudice as intergroup bias controlled by age, ethnicity and gender, and analysed its correlates (social beliefs related to system structure, and contact). According to literature, data show a stronger explicit prejudice in younger children (8-10 years) compared with the older (12-14 years). Ingroup bias has a negative influence on outgroup contact. Only in younger children the contact show higher levels of system-justification. The findings suggest the relevance of interventions starting from early age that promote positive interactions between different social groups to develop multicultural societies.
Improving the integration: The role of system beliefs may affect the prejudice/intergroup bias amoung children
VIOLA, ERICA;Rutto, Filippo Zwingli Carlo;DE PICCOLI, Norma;MOSSO, Cristina Onesta
2012-01-01
Abstract
After the age of 7 years several studies have found that explicit attitudes become more egalitarian, whereas children continue to show implicit bias. What remains to be analyzed is the role of social factors on the self-report and indirect measure of prejudice. Schools are social contexts of interaction among ethnic groups. Recent research focused on prejudice and its correlates among children focused on the relationship among the information on social context and the expression of prejudice, arguing on the importance to disentangle the direction of this relationship. The aim of this study is to evaluate this issue among children enrolled in primary school programs. We measured (N = 216) implicit and explicit prejudice as intergroup bias controlled by age, ethnicity and gender, and analysed its correlates (social beliefs related to system structure, and contact). According to literature, data show a stronger explicit prejudice in younger children (8-10 years) compared with the older (12-14 years). Ingroup bias has a negative influence on outgroup contact. Only in younger children the contact show higher levels of system-justification. The findings suggest the relevance of interventions starting from early age that promote positive interactions between different social groups to develop multicultural societies.
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