What children remember about ingroup and outgroup peers: Effects of stereotypes on children’s processing of information about group members

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Abstract

Three studies are reported about children’s memory for stereotypic behaviors attributed to ingroup and outgroup members. According to research and theory in social cognition, cues present in the situation make cultural representations about group members accessible, and once primed, influence all phases of the information processing sequence. In Study 1, EuroCanadian and Native Canadian children (N=98) recalled stereotypic behaviors attributed to ingroup and outgroup members. In Study 2 (N=87), the influence of individual difference variables was explored. In Study 3 (N=32), the memory of Native Canadian children living on a First Nation reserve for behaviors attributed to ingroup and outgroup members was studied. Biases in recall were found in Studies 1 and 2, but in Study 3, outgroup favoritism, typically found among low status group members, was reversed among children attending a heritage school. Among the individual difference measures examined, age and level of cognitive development predicted what was remembered about group members. Older EuroCanadian children recalled more negative behaviors about outgroup members than did younger children, and more cognitively mature children recognized more information about ingroup than outgroup members. Results were discussed in terms of cognitive and situational factors influencing children’s processing of group-relevant information and the challenges children in low status groups face in maintaining a sense of cultural identity.

Introduction

What we remember about a person’s traits or behaviors has a bearing on our impressions of that person and our interactions with him or her. Recalling that someone was kind or angry guides what we think of that person, and whether we will seek that person out or generate excuses to avoid him or her. Although many factors influence impression formation and personal recollections, many studies on person memory have examined the influence of stereotypes on memory and recall. Most of these studies (see Fiske & Taylor, 1991; Kunda, 1999 for reviews) have been done with older adolescents and young adults, but the influence of stereotypes held by children on memory for behaviors attributed to same-age peers has been given less attention. What children remember about what peers say and do can be used to study questions about the impact of stereotypes on information processing, how memory is influenced by factors like perceived social status, and how information about others might be organized in memory. In addition, the present studies address issues raised by intergroup research (e.g., Bigler, Jones, & Lobliner, 1997), and theory (e.g., Tajfel & Turner, 1979) on cognitive and motivational processes involved in children’s memory of stereotypic information.

To properly frame these issues, a selective overview of studies on the influence of stereotypes held by children and adults on judgments and recall sets the context for Study 1. Three factors are discussed in Study 1: the influence on recall of group membership of the perceiver and the other person and the consistency of stereotypic information received about others. As discussed subsequently, children and adults from high and low status groups recall more stereotypic consistent information about ingroup and outgroup members, and, in doing so, preserve the perceived status relations between groups. These issues were examined in Study 1 by asking EuroCanadian and Native Canadian children to recall behaviors attributed to ingroup or outgroup members that varied in valence and consistency with the group stereotype. Results from Study 1 raise questions about the role of developmental and motivational factors on children’s information processing; these issues were addressed in Study 2. Study 3 explored the role of culture on stereotype accessibility by examining the influence of stereotypes on information processing among Native Canadian children living on a First Nation reserve.

Categorizing others into ingroup and outgroup members influences all phases of information processing (see Brewer & Kramer, 1985; Hewstone, 1990; Mullen, Brown, & Smith, 1992 for reviews). Among adults (Duncan, 1976; Henderson-King & Nisbett, 1996; Hewstone & Jaspars, 1982; for a review see Hewstone, Rubin, & Willis, 2002) and children (Bigler et al., 1997; Hymel, 1986; Powlishta, 1995; Powlishta, Serbin, Doyle, & White, 1994; Yee & Brown, 1992) ingroup members are evaluated more favorably, their successful task outcomes attributed to internal factors, more differentiated judgments are made about them, and ingroupers are seen as a different as snowflakes whereas outgroup members are perceived to be all much the same (Boldry & Kashy, 1999; Linville, 1992; Linville, Fischer, & Salovey, 1989). Recall is also influenced by ingroup–outgroup membership. Among adults (Bardach & Park, 1996; Bodenhausen, 1988; Macrae, Stangor, & Milne, 1994) and children (Averhart & Bigler, 1997; Bigler & Liben, 1993; Signorella & Liben, 1984; Stangor & McMillan, 1992) more stereotypic consistent than inconsistent information is remembered. Averhart and Bigler (1997), for example, found that African American children recalled more positive attributes consistent with their stereotype of lighter skin-toned group members, and more negative attributes consistent with their stereotype of darker skin-toned group members. According to network models of memory (e.g., Srull, Lichenstein, & Rothbart, 1985), because stereotypic consistent information is more readily encoded into existing knowledge structures, there are more retrieval routes by which such information can be accessed.

Research on person memory typically focuses on memory structures underlying what is remembered about others, and the cognitive efforts people exert when trying to integrate inconsistent, sometimes affect-laden information into a coherent gestalt of the other person. There is another research tradition, however, that focuses on the influence of perceived group status on processing of stereotypic information about ingroup and outgroup members. Relative group status refers to the value or prestige typically given to one social group or category. In all cultures, categories associated with structural and social relations between groups are also value-laden categories (Triandis, 1994); that is, people who belong to one category (e.g., ethnic/racial majorities, males, professionals) are perceived to be more socially worthy, competent, and powerful and less likely to experience stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination than are those who belong to other categories (e.g., ethnic/racial minorities, women, laborers, or blue collar workers; Fiske, 1993; Major, Gramzow, McCoy, Schmader, & Sidanius, 2002; Operario, Goodwin, & Fiske, 1998). One of the consistent findings in this tradition is that children of European heritage show ingroup biases or favoritism in their judgments and recall of information about ingroup members (e.g., Black-Gutman & Hickson, 1996; Boldry & Kashy, 1999; Clark & Clark, 1947; Corenblum & Annis, 1993; Corenblum, Annis, & Young, 1996; for reviews see Aboud & Amato, 2001; Hewstone et al., 2002). Bigler and Liben (1993), for example, found that EuroAmerican children recalled more positive behaviors about ingroup members and more negative ones about African American children. In contrast, other group serving biases (or outgroup favoritism) in judgments and recall are seen among children who perceive themselves to be members of low status groups (see Aboud, 1988; Aboud & Amato, 2001 for reviews). Corenblum et al. (1996), for example, found that Native Canadian children recalled more information about outgroup than ingroup members (see also Averhart & Bigler, 1997).

Although there is little disagreement about these findings, there is considerable debate about their explanation (see, for example, Aboud & Amato, 2001; Cameron, Alvarez, Ruble, & Faligni, 2001). One explanation, derived from social cognition research and theory, is that ingroup and outgroup favoritism occurs because children from both groups share similar stereotypes (and associated cultural beliefs) about ingroup and outgroup members. For example, Sagar and Schofield (1980) found that both white and African American children labeled the same ambiguous behavior as aggression when done by an African American but as playing around when done by a white, and Corenblum et al. (1996) found that Euro and Native Canadian children attributed a EuroCanadian child’s successful task outcomes to internal factors whereas the same outcome by Native Canadian was attributed to luck or an easy task.

The idea that children in low and high status groups use similar representations to process group-relevant behaviors really begs the question—why should this be so? Although there are a number of answers to this question (see General discussion), the one stressed here is that in many cases it is unavoidable because of the majority culture. Operario et al. (1998) present a spirited discussion of those factors in European and North American culture that implicitly or explicitly generate positive stereotypes about dominant groups and negative views about subordinate groups. These sources range from the mundane (e.g., pictures on office calendars, waiting room magazines, and fraternity initiation rites) to serious and influential sources of influence such as news and entertainment media (Graves, 1999) and parental socialization practices (Rohan & Zanna, 1996). Cues present in the context or social environment prime, often without awareness, stereotypes and their supportive interpretation present in the culture; and these, in turn, guide how information about ingroup and outgroup members is encoded, processed and evaluated (Henderson-King & Nisbett, 1996; Macrae et al., 1994). In addition to cues present in the dominant culture, children from both groups face another source of cued representations. Research on children’s memory and evaluations of group members is often done in schools where most of the students and many of the teachers are members of the dominant culture, and the school structure, organization (Khmelkov & Hallinan, 1999), and curriculum (Bigler, 1999) reflects the norms, values, beliefs, and expectations of that culture (Bigler, Brown, & Markell, 2001). Stereotypes and other beliefs that are repeatedly primed become chronically accessible (Cameron et al., 2001; Sedikides & Skrowronski, 1991); and once so, influence information processing in ways that maintain the structure and consistency of existing beliefs about group members (von Hippel, Sekaquaptewa, & Vargas, 1995).

Section snippets

Study 1 and hypotheses

One implication of the idea that children from both groups use culturally shared beliefs to process group-relevant information is that children from high status groups should show an ingroup bias in recalling information about group members whereas those from low status groups should show an outgroup bias. Specifically, (1) children from both groups should recall more positive and fewer negative attributes about high status group members, but reverse that pattern when recalling information

Study 2: Individual differences and memory of information about ingroup and outgroup members

Results found in Study 1 are consistent with the hypothesis that children’s stereotypes influenced their processing of information about ingroup and outgroup members. Motivational explanations, however, would provide an alternate account based on ingroup and outgroup favoritism. In Study 2, the influence of motivational and cognitive developmental factors on EuroCanadian children’s processing of information about ingroup and outgroup members was examined. As discussed subsequently, there are

Study 3: Native Canadian children’s memory of behaviors of ingroup and outgroup members

In Studies 1 and 2, children’s stereotypes about ingroup and outgroup members guided encoding of group-relevant behaviors in ways that maintained the position of high status group members. It was suggested earlier that such biases occur, in part, because cues present in the environment make culturally shared beliefs about ingroup and outgroup members more accessible. Although results from Study 1 and 2 were consistent with this idea, support for the hypothesis is indirect because all children

Results and discussion

More stereotypic relevant, M=0.26, than irrelevant, M=0.20 behaviors were recalled, t(30)=2.07,p<.05, and, as expected, recall was not significantly influenced by which picture was seen t(30)=<1.0. Although these results are consistent with earlier results, they are not as strong as those reported previously. Post hoc analysis indicated that two children did not recall any of the 22 behaviors and eight recalled more irrelevant than relevant behaviors. When recall from these children were

General discussion

The three studies reported here examined the influence of stereotypes on children’s memory for behaviors attributed to ingroup and outgroup members. It was hypothesized that cues present in the situation prime children’s stereotypic expectancies about ingroup and outgroup members, and once activated, these expectancies and associated beliefs influence encoding and processing of group-relevant information in ways that maintain existing belief structures about group members. Results of Study 1

Acknowledgements

Results reported in this paper comprised, in part, requirements of the fourth year Honor’s program by Nellie Kopitz and Jaime More under the direction of the author. I thank Nellie, Jaime, Wanda Snow, Monica Pugh, and Brandi Coleman for their assistance in this project. I also thank the superintendent, principals, teachers, and students of the Brandon School Division and the Sioux Valley Education Authority for allowing me into the schools. Special thanks is extended to Cliff Anderson for

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