This experiment examined the effectiveness of one-group and dual-identity recategorization strategies on reducing intergroup bias among 180 European Portuguese and African Portuguese 9- and 10-year-old children. Results revealed that each of these recategorization strategies, relative to one that emphasized separate group identities, was successful in producing positive attitudes toward the outgroup children present during the session, the outgroup as a whole, and the outgroup as a whole three weeks later. Consistent with a functional perspective regarding which representation would most effectively promote their group’s goals, a dual identity was more effective for the European Portuguese majority group, whereas a one-group identity was more effective for the African Portuguese minority group. Additional analyses explored a model of the process of generalization that formally links attitudes toward the outgroup as a whole to the attitudes toward outgroup members present during contact.

T he present research examined the developmental course of racial behaviours in childhood. It tested the hypothesis that White children's expressions of racial prejudice do not necessarily decline in middle childhood due to the development of particular cognitive skills but that instead, as argued by the socio-normative approach, children older than seven will go on expressing prejudiced attitudes under appropriate conditions. This would be explained by the presence of an anti-racism norm, along with the existence of values promoting equal rights, which impede blatant expressions of racism. In the first study 283 White children aged 6-7 and 9-10 years performed a task of resource allocation to White and Black target children in conditions of high (White interviewer was present) or low (White interviewer was absent) salience of the anti-racist norm. The 6-to 7-yearold children discriminated against the Black target in both conditions whereas older children discriminated against the Black child only when the anti-racist norm was not salient. In Study 2, 187 White children aged 6-7 and 9-10 years performed the same resource allocation task in conditions of explicit activation of similarity vs dissimilarity or egalitarian vs merit-based norms regarding race relations. Supporting the hypothesis of the role of racist or anti-racist norms on the expression of intergroup discrimination, results have again shown that 6-to 7-year-old children discriminated against the Black target in both conditions while older children presented significantly different prejudiced/nonprejudiced behaviours consistent with the activated norms. These results were discussed in terms of the need for a reanalysis of the assumptions and research results of the cognitivedevelopmental theory and of further developments in the socio-normative approach regarding the development of prejudice in childhood. L a présente recherche a examiné le cours du développement des comportements raciaux pendant l'enfance. L'étude a testé l'hypothèse que les expressions de préjugés raciaux des enfants blancs ne diminuent pas nécessairement au milieu de l'enfance à cause du développement d'habiletés cognitives particulières mais plutô t, tel qu'avancé par l'approche socio-normative, sous des conditions appropriées, les enfants de plus de 7 ans continueront à exprimer des préjugés. Ceci serait expliqué par la présence d'une norme anti-raciste ainsi que l'existence de valeurs qui promouvoient les droits égaux, ce qui empêche les expressions flagrantes de racisme. Dans la première étude, 283 enfants blancs â gés de 6-7 et de 9-10 ans ont accompli une tâ che d'allocation de ressources à des enfants-cibles blancs et noirs dans des conditions de saillance élevée (un interviewer blanc était présent) ou faible (un interviewer blanc était absent) de la norme anti-raciste. Les enfants de 6-7 ans ont #

In Study 1, 82 White children aged 5–10 years allocated rewards to White and Black target children in justified/unjustified normative contexts according to their performance on a previous task. In Study 2, 71 White children aged 5–10 years allocated resources to White and Black target children in conditions of high (interviewer was present) or low (interviewer was absent) salience of the anti‐racism norm. In both studies, younger children displayed intergroup biased racial behaviours in most conditions, whereas older children, as expected, only displayed similar egalitarian behaviours in contexts where an anti‐racism normative pressure was not salient. Results of both experimental studies highlighted the interplay between child development, the anti‐prejudice norm and context factors. Furthermore, they support the assumptions of the theory of aversive racism regarding the use of legitimizing justifications to account for racial biased behaviours and extend its scope to a better understanding of the development of racial prejudice in childhood. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the impact of violent computer games on state hostility, state anxiety and arousal. Participants were undergraduate students, aged from 18 to 25 years old. Before the experimental sessions, participants filled in self‐report measures concerning their video game habits and were also pre‐tested for aggressiveness and trait anxiety. Physiological responses (heart rate and skin conductance) were measured during the experiment. After playing, information about state hostility and state anxiety was collected. The results showed that participants who played the violent game reported significantly higher state hostility and support the assumption that an aggressive personality moderates the effect of playing a violent game on state hostility. Aggr. Behav. 32:358–371. 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

This study was conducted to analyze the short‐term effects of violent electronic games, played with or without a virtual reality (VR) device, on the instigation of aggressive behavior. Physiological arousal (heart rate (HR)), priming of aggressive thoughts, and state hostility were also measured to test their possible mediation on the relationship between playing the violent game (VG) and aggression. The participants—148 undergraduate students—were randomly assigned to four treatment conditions: two groups played a violent computer game (Unreal Tournament), and the other two a non‐violent game (Motocross Madness), half with a VR device and the remaining participants on the computer screen. In order to assess the game effects the following instruments were used: a BIOPAC System MP100 to measure HR, an Emotional Stroop task to analyze the priming of aggressive and fear thoughts, a self‐report State Hostility Scale to measure hostility, and a competitive reaction‐time task to assess aggressive behavior. The main results indicated that the violent computer game had effects on state hostility and aggression. Although no significant mediation effect could be detected, regression analyses showed an indirect effect of state hostility between playing a VG and aggression. Aggr. Behav. 34:521–538, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Different studies regarding the role of norms on the expression of prejudice have shown that the anti-prejudice norm influences people to inhibit prejudice expressions. However, if norm pressure has led to a substantial decrease in the public expression of prejudice against certain targets (e.g., blacks, women, blind people), little theoretical and empirical attention has been paid to the role of this general norm regarding sexual minorities (e.g., prostitutes, lesbians and gays). In this sense, the issue we want to address is whether general anti-prejudice norms can reduce the expression of prejudice against homosexual individuals. In this research we investigate the effect of activating an anti-prejudice norm against homosexuals on blatant and subtle expressions of prejudice. The anti-prejudice norm was experimentally manipulated and its effects were observed on rejection to intimacy (blatant prejudice) and on positive-negative emotions (subtle prejudice) regarding homosexuals. 136 university students were randomly allocated to activated-norm and control conditions and completed a questionnaire that included norm manipulation and the dependent variables. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) as well as subsequent ANOVAS showed that only in the high normative pressure condition participants expressed less rejection to intimacy and less negative emotions against homosexuals, when compared to the simple norm-activation and the control conditions. Positive emotions, however, were similar both in the high normative pressure and the control conditions. We concluded that a high anti-prejudice pressure regarding homosexuals could reduce blatant prejudice but not subtle prejudice, considering that the expression of negative emotions decreased while the expression of positive emotions remained stable.

No abstract

Resumo Escritores, 7, 1º B, 2685-207,