Elsevier

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

Volume 26, Issue 6, November–December 2005, Pages 699-713
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

Interracial contact and racial constancy: A multi-site study of racial intergroup bias in 3–5 year old Anglo-British children

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Abstract

This paper examined the influence of interracial contact and racial constancy on the racial intergroup bias of young Anglo-British children. This multi-site study was conducted in areas of Great Britain that varied in terms of racial diversity. The study also investigated whether preschool children express bias on positive, but not negative, valence attributions. Anglo-British children (N = 136) between 3 and 5 years of age with different levels of interracial contact undertook a racial stereotype attribution measure and three tasks to assess racial constancy. Significantly more racial bias was shown towards the African Caribbean-British compared to the Asian-British or Oriental-British racial out-groups. As predicted, only children in racially mixed areas failed to show discrimination in favor of the white in-group on both the positive and negative trait attributions. In addition, higher racial constancy was related significantly to greater racial intergroup bias. These findings suggest that racial intergroup bias amongst 3–5 year old children may be reduced through the promotion of interracial contact, because at this age children are already beginning to develop racial constancy.

Introduction

“Segregation leads to blockages in the communication and interaction between the two [racial] groups. Such blockages tend to increase mutual suspicion, distrust, and hostility” (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954, as cited in Martin, 1998, p. 145).

The above belief was instrumental in the historic 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision to halt lawful segregation of racial groups in U.S. public schools. This ruling had a significant impact on the nature of U.S. education and the quality of education for African-Americans and other minority groups (Zirkel & Cantor, 2004). It also sent an important message beyond the shores of the United States that racial segregation was damaging and not compatible with racial harmony. Unfortunately, in recent years within cities of the United Kingdom and United States racial segregation has increased (Cantle, 2001, Denham, 2001, Ellis et al., 2004) and some contend that racial communities now lead “parallel lives” in which majority children and those from racial minorities “do not seem to touch at any point, let alone overlap and produce any meaningful exchange” (Ward, 2002). In this article, findings from a multi-site study that examined whether less interracial contact amongst 3–5 year old children is related to greater racial intergroup bias are presented. The study also investigated the relationship between racial constancy and young children's racial intergroup bias.

The focus of the present research was 3–5 year old children. This early period of childhood is critical in the development of intergroup attitudes. Racial intergroup bias and stereotypes emerge in the early years of childhood (Aboud, 1988, Brown, 1995, Nesdale, 2001) and, with age, children increasingly draw on racial information when perceiving the world and making social judgments (Killen & Stangor, 2001, Ruble et al., 2004). Research (Aboud & Amato, 2001, Tatum, 2004) suggests young children do not primarily learn their racial bias and stereotypes from their parents; rather biases are a result of social-cognitive development, and the influences of others from outside the home in the school environment (e.g. peers, teachers). Therefore, the level of interracial contact in the education system could be significantly related to racial attitudes in young children.1

Contact between members of different groups, under a given set of conditions, reduces existing prejudices according to Allport's (1954) ‘intergroup contact hypothesis’. Allport's hypothesis is that prejudice and discrimination are a consequence of unfamiliarity with the out-group. Intergroup contact leads to positive experiences with the out-group and exposes individuals to stereotype disconfirming information, resulting in changes in beliefs, attitudes and behavior towards the out-group (Brewer & Gaertner, 2001). A large body of research suggests that intergroup contact can lead to a reduction in intergroup bias (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2000). Allport (1954) specified the ‘optimal conditions’ under which contact is most likely to be successful. Groups in contact should be equal in status and the contact should be personal and individualized and cooperative in nature. Indeed, research suggests that the effect of contact is stronger in contexts in which Allport's optimal conditions were met (Brown & Hewstone, 2005, Hamberger & Hewstone, 1997).

A number of studies with young children have examined the affect of actual interracial contact in the field (see Aboud & Levy, 1999, for review). The vast majority of these studies have been conducted in North America, with very few known studies examining the relationship between interracial contact and young children's racial attitudes within the United Kingdom (see Brown, 1995). However, studies in the United Kingdom have found some evidence that intergroup contact may improve children's attitudes towards disabled people (e.g. Furnham & Pendred, 1984, Maras & Brown, 1996, Maras & Brown, 2000). Interracial contact may be a result of specific interventions designed to create intergroup contact, or may be a consequence of changes in school structure or policies, such as racial desegregation, as well as cultural immersion programs and bilingual education. For example, Stephan (1999) conducted a broad review of studies examining racial desegregation in elementary and high schools that concluded the effects of desegregation are dependent on the ethnic group of the child. Subsequent to racial desegregation in schools, Black children's out-group attitudes were more likely to become positive than negative, whereas White children's out-group attitudes were more likely to become negative. However, the majority of studies included in Stephan's meta-analysis were conducted just a few years after desegregation. Therefore the long-term effects of contact cannot be inferred from this review. In contrast, there is evidence that racial desegregation can lead to long-term improvements in intergroup relationships (Stephan & Stephan, 1996). For example, attending a racially desegregated school has been linked to relationships with racial out-group co-workers and willingness to live in racially desegregated communities in later life (Braddock & McPartland, 1989).

A different type of school ethnic desegregation is a bilingual education programme. In their review, Genesee and Gandara (1999) outlined two different types of bilingual education: Dual-Language Education and Immersion. The former is typically found in the United States and involves children whose primary language is the majority language being educated alongside those whose primary language is the minority language. This allows direct contact with out-group members and the opportunity for close intergroup co-operation in the classroom. Research suggests that compared to children in mono-language English schools, those attending dual-language schools are less prejudicial towards groups that speak another language (Cazabon, 1999). In contrast, the Canadian Language immersion programmes tend to be exclusively aimed at members of the ethno-linguistic majority (i.e., English-speaking Canadians). Though the children do not have direct contact with members of the linguistic out-group, they have vicarious contact with the out-group because they are taught in the minority language (i.e., French) and are immersed in French Canadian culture. Children who experienced these immersion programmes engaged in more intergroup contact (Genesee & Gandara, 1999) and were more positive towards French Canadians compared to non-immersion students (Lambert & Tucker, 1972).

The present study investigated whether children from kindergartens of differing ethnicity mix showed variations in their racial intergroup bias. Children from kindergartens were tested from across the United Kingdom and, therefore, the sample included children with varying degrees of interracial contact. In accordance with Allport's ‘intergroup contact hypothesis’, it was predicted that children would show less racial intergroup bias the more racially mixed their kindergarten. Specifically, it was anticipated that only children from racially mixed kindergartens, who should experience most interracial contact, would show the least racial intergroup bias. However there may be other important factors, apart from interracial contact, in the development of racial intergroup bias in young children.

According to social-cognitive theories, variations in children's perceptions of social categories reflect differences in cognitive development (e.g. Aboud, 1988, Kohlberg, 1969). These theories contend that children's social understanding reaches a new level when they realize a social category is not changeable, namely it has constancy (Kohlberg, 1966). Research suggests children begin to develop gender and racial constancy from 3 to 4 years of age and the majority have this understanding by 7 years (Rhee & Ruble, 1997, Ruble et al., 2004). According to Ruble et al. (2004) there are three components in children's understanding the immutability of social category membership: (1) correct identification of one's own category membership; (2) understanding that category memberships remains stable over time; and (3) realization that category membership is consistent across superficial transformations in appearance or context. Therefore, the present study measured children's racial constancy through tasks that examined racial identification, stability and consistency amongst 3–5 year old white British children. Social-cognitive theory contends that once children obtain racial constancy they are motivated to seek out information about appropriate behavior for their group (i.e., stereotypes) and to behave in line with their group membership (Bernal et al., 1990, Ocampo et al., 1993, Semaja, 1980, Stangor & Ruble, 1987). Indeed, the emergence of racial constancy does seem to parallel the onset of racial in-group bias (Ruble et al., 2004). However, little known research has examined how the achievement of racial constancy might be related to greater racial intergroup bias. Thus the present research investigated whether children with high levels of racial constancy were likely to show significantly greater racial intergroup bias.

The present study used a stereotype attribution task to measure racial intergroup bias (Aboud, 2003, Rutland et al., 2005). This allowed for an examination of the positive vs. negative valence of the evaluative dimension (Mummendey & Otten, 1998), which has been relatively ignored in previous research on children's intergroup attitudes. Several studies have noted that children are sometimes more willing to differentiate between groups on positive attributes and much less reliably show intergroup discrimination on negative attributes (e.g., Bennett et al., 2004, Bennett et al., 1998, Bigler et al., 1997, Bigler et al., 2001). This phenomenon has been termed the ‘positive–negative asymmetry effect’ (PNA effect: Mummendey & Otten, 1998, Mummendey et al., 1992, Otten et al., 1996). However, studies that have noted the PNA effect typically involved children aged 6 years and above. To our knowledge, no study has examined whether the PNA effect is evident amongst preschool children aged between 3 and 5 years.

Research suggests there are several reasons why preschool children should not demonstrate the PNA effect. First, preschool children are less likely to react to social constraints against displaying explicitly negative racial bias. This is because young children have less advanced awareness of what is normative when engaging in social reasoning about inclusion and exclusion (Abrams et al., 2003, Abrams et al., 2003, Rutland et al., 2005) combined with an inability to spontaneously engage in self-presentation (Aloise-Young, 1993, Bennett & Yeeles, 1990). These features of preschool children mean they are less likely to react to social constraints against displaying explicitly negative racial bias. Second, adult research suggests that when participants are asked to show negative intergroup attitudes they recategorize the situation into “us” (i.e., “participants”, whether belonging to the ‘in-group’ or ‘out-group’) and “them” (i.e., “researchers” who are asking us to be explicitly negative) and this should reduce intergroup bias in the negative area (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000, Gardham & Brown, 2001, Mummendey & Otten, 1998). However, developmental research indicates that the social-cognitive ability of young children to engage in multiple classifications is poor (Barenboim, 1981, Doyle & Aboud, 1995). Thus they, unlike adults, are less likely to engage in recategorization when invited to show negative intergroup attitudes. Therefore, given these two reasons, it was predicted that our preschool children would not show the PNA effect when attributing positive and negative stereotype traits to racial groups.

In summary, preschool white British children with higher levels of interracial contact should show the least racial intergroup bias. This prediction is based upon Allport's (1954) ‘intergroup contact’ hypothesis and a body of research that suggests intergroup contact improves children's intergroup attitudes (e.g., Genesee & Gandara, 1999, Stephan & Stephan, 1996). Social-cognitive theories predict that children's racial intergroup attitudes would also reflect differences in their racial constancy (Kohlberg, 1969, Ruble et al., 2004). It was anticipated that the children showing high levels of racial constancy would also demonstrate high racial intergroup bias. Finally, it was predicted that 3–5 year old children would not show evidence of the PNA effect given their relatively poor normative awareness, self-presentation concerns and recategorization abilities.

Section snippets

Participants

One hundred and thirty-six Anglo-British children (75 females and 61 males) aged from 3 years 2 months to 5 years 10 months (M = 4 years, 8 months; SD = 6.07 months) were tested. The children attended seven different kindergartens in Great Britain; with three from the south-east region of England, two from the midlands of England and two from the north of England. These kindergartens were each aware of and implemented UK Government standards of day care for children under 8 years (Department

Racial intergroup bias

To investigate variations in bias between the three racial out-groups the children's intergroup stereotype bias scores were subjected to a within-participants ANOVA with three levels of racial out-groups (African-Caribbean, Asian-Indian, Far-East Asian). This ANOVA revealed a main effect for Out-group, F(2, 266) = 9.09, p < .001, η2 = .06, power = .97. Pair-wise comparisons showed that the African-Caribbean stereotype bias score (M = 1.67, SD = 3.98) was significantly higher than both the

Discussion

The findings of this study indicated that interracial contact and racial constancy were significantly related to preschool children's racial intergroup attitudes. However, naturally, with a correlational design it is difficult to infer any degree of causality from our results. Nevertheless, the present study is the first in the United Kingdom to show a significant link between interracial contact and Anglo-British children's attitudes toward the African-Caribbean out-group. This original

Acknowledgement

This research was in part supported by a grant from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The authors extend their gratitude to BBC staff from the series ‘Child of our Time’ who helped us gain access to the children from across Great Britain. Much appreciation is extended to the staff and children for their participation.

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