Interpersonal rejection and intergroup exclusion in childhood reflect different, but complementary, aspects of child development. Interpersonal rejection focuses on individual differences in personality traits, such as wariness and being fearful, to explain bully-victim relationships. In contrast, intergroup exclusion focuses on how in-group and out-group attitudes contribute to social exclusion based on group membership, such as gender, race, ethnicity, culture, and nationality. It is proposed that what appears to be interpersonal rejection in some contexts may, in fact, reflect intergroup exclusion. Whereas interpersonal rejection research assumes that victims invite rejection, intergroup exclusion research proposes that excluders reject members of out-groups to maintain status differences. A developmental intergroup social exclusion framework is described, one that focuses on social reasoning, moral judgment, and group identity.

Children and adolescents evaluated group inclusion and exclusion in the context of generic and group-specific norms involving morality and social conventions. Participants (N = 381), aged 9.5 and 13.5 years, judged an in-group member's decision to deviate from the norms of the group, whom to include, and whether their personal preference was the same as what they expected a group should do. Deviating from in-group moral norms about unequal allocation of resources was viewed more positively than deviating from conventional norms about nontraditional dress codes. With age, participants gave priority to group-specific norms and differentiated what the group should do from their own preference about the group's decision, revealing a developmental picture about children's complex understanding of group dynamics and group norms.

We examined whether a theoretically based number board game could be translated into a practical classroom activity that improves Head Start children's numerical knowledge. Playing the number board game as a small group leaming activity promoted low-income children's number line estimation, magnitude comparison, numeral identification, and counting. Improvements were also found when a paraprofessional from the children's classroom played the game with the children. Observations of the game-playing sessions revealed that paraprofessionals adapted the feedback they provided to individual children's improving numerical knowledge over the game-playing sessions and that children remained engaged in the board game play after multiple sessions. These fmdings suggest that the linear number board game can be used effectively in the classroom context.

This study investigated three factors that contribute to social exclusion: group norms, individual characteristics, and stereotypes. Non-Arab American 12- and 16-year-olds (N = 199) judged their expectations about the inclusivity of Arab American and non-Arab American peer groups toward new peers characterized by: (a) different ethnic identity but similar interests (e.g., hobbies) and (b) same ethnic identity but different interests. Participants expected that when groups had exclusive norms, Arab American peers would base inclusion decisions on ethnic identity, but that their own non-Arab group would base decisions on shared interests. Participants who reported stereotypes expected their in-group to be ethnically less inclusive. With age, ethnic-based exclusion increased. The findings are discussed in light of current research on developmental intergroup relationships.

Do groups like ingroup members who challenge group norms about resource allocation, and do children evaluate how favorable a group will be towards deviant members differently from their own individual perspective? Participants (N = 381), aged 9.5 and 13.5 years, evaluated members of their own group who deviated from group norms about resource allocation by either: 1) advocating for equal allocation in contrast to the group norm of inequality; or 2) advocating for inequality when the group norm was to divide equally. With age, participants differentiated their own individual favorability from the group's favorability of deviant members of the ingroup.Further, when deciding between group loyalty and equal allocation, children and adolescents gave priority to equality, rejecting group decisions to dislike ingroup members who advocated for equality.