Developmental Origins of Anti-Black Bias in White Children in the United States: Exposure to and Beliefs about Racial Inequality

Abstract

Anti-Black racism remains a pervasive crisis in the United States today. Racist social systems are rooted in prejudicial beliefs that reinforce and perpetuate racial inequalities. These beliefs have their developmental origins in early childhood and are difficult to change once entrenched in adolescence and adulthood. What causes children to form prejudicial beliefs and racial biases—and what steps can be taken to preempt them from forming—remain open questions. Here we show that children’s exposure to and beliefs about racial inequalities predict the formation of anti-Black biases in a sample of 712 White children (4-8 years) living across the United States. Drawing from constructivist theories in developmental science, we outline a novel account of the emergence of racial bias in early childhood: As children observe racial inequalities in the world around them, they develop beliefs about the causal factors underlying those inequalities. Children who believe that inequalities reflect the inherent superiority/inferiority of racial groups develop biases that perpetuate this worldview, whereas those who recognize the extrinsic causes of racial inequalities develop attitudes geared towards rectification. Our results demonstrate the importance of early intervention to disrupt problematic beliefs before they emerge and highlight children’s awareness of structural racism as an important target for anti-racist intervention.

Reducing Prejudice Through Promoting Cross-Group Friendships

“…The researchers found that 4-year olds’ beliefs that their parents and peers do not value interracial friendships predicted increased racial bias. This study reveals the importance not only of interracial friendships but the belief that parents and peers support these types of relationships, even as early as 4 years of age (Rizzo et al, 2021).…”

“…In sum, even preschool-aged children are aware of racial categories (Rizzo et al, 2021; Shutts, 2015), can select friends based on race (Romero et al, 2009), and reliably report intergroup attitudes (Dunham et al, 2013). Moreover, age-appropriate novel measures have been created to examine these processes.…”

“…A recent study examined the developmental mechanisms underlying the emergence of racial bias in 4-year-old children by examining beliefs about interracial friendships and beliefs about racial inequalities (Rizzo et al, 2021). The researchers found that 4-year olds' beliefs that their parents and peers do not value interracial friendships predicted increased racial bias.…”

“…Ingroup preferences, however, can turn into biases, particularly when children do not have experiences that enable children to understand what makes biases wrong and unfair (Rutland & Killen, 2015). What has been well documented is that biases (Dunham et al, 2011 McGlothlin & Killen, 2010; Rizzo et al, 2021), exclusionary behavior based on race (Cooley et al, 2019), implicit racial bias (González et al, 2017) and the propensity to form racial categories about people based on verbal cues (Roberts & Gelman, 2017) emerge during childhood.…”

Promoting Fair and Just School Environments: Developing Inclusive Youth

“…In childhood, target groups include gender, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, nationality, immigrant status, religion, and socioeconomic status (Levy, et al, 2016). Prejudicial attitudes toward these various target groups manifest when children are forming friendships and group identities (Elenbaas et al, 2016), revealing implicit and explicit bias (Rizzo et al, 2021; Rutland et al, 2005) as well as stereotypic expectations (Durante & Fiske, 2017; Mulvey & Killen, 2015). Prejudicial attitudes emerge during the preschool period, albeit inconsistently, change throughout childhood, vary by target groups, and are more malleable in childhood than in adulthood.…”