Social Identity and the Development of Children's Group Attitudes

Abstract

This study assessed predictions drawn from social identity theory (SIT; Tajfel & Turner) concerning the acquisition of young children's intra- and intergroup attitudes and cognitions. In a minimal group study, 5- and 8-year-old children (N = 258) were arbitrarily assigned to teams that varied in their drawing ability (social status). In addition, the study varied the extent to which the children believed they could change teams (social mobility) and whether the team had additional positive qualities beyond their drawing skill (social change). The children subsequently rated their liking for, and similarity to, the ingroup and the outgroup and the extent to which they wished to change groups. Consistent with SIT and research with adults, the results indicated that children as young as 5 years of age were sensitive to the status of their social group, and that ingroup status has important implications for both their desire to remain group members as well as their perceived similarity to other group members. The extent to which the findings provide support for SIT and the intergroup similarities between adults and children are discussed.

Acquisition and Development of a Shared Psychological Intergroup Repertoire in a Context of an Intractable Conflict

“…In the last two decades, research on the developmental trajectory of intergroup stereotypes and prejudice has drawn on two major theories: social-cognitive theory (SCT) (Aboud, 1988 ;Chapter 4 , this volume) and social identity development theory (SIDT), (Nesdale, 1999Nesdale & Flesser, 2001 ). SCT suggests that due to limited cognitive capabilities, affective infl uence (fear), early emotional attachments to individuals perceived as similar to the child, and egocentric social perspective, preschoolers prefer their own ethnic group.…”

“…When children reach the age of 7 to 9, cognitive maturation is expected to introduce more fl exibility and social tolerance. Indeed, ample fi ndings indicate that in multiethnic, nonviolent social contexts, children aged 7 to 9 become less biased (Aboud, 1988, Bigler & Liben, 1993Black-Gutman & Hickson, 1996 ;Doyle & Aboud, 1995 ;Doyle, Beaudet, & Aboud, 1988 ;Nesdale & Flesser, 2001 ;. Nesdale (Chapter 13) and his associates based their model on social identity theory SIT (Tajfel & Turner 1986 ), and proposed it as an alternative account of the development of stereotypes and prejudice to that offered by Aboud ( 1988 ).…”

Group bias in cooperative norm enforcement

“…The fact that in-group bias emerges so early and so pervasively suggests that it is deeply rooted in human psychology, perhaps in the form of a 'preparedness' to identify and affiliate with salient social groups [12,13].…”

Do young children accept responsibility for the negative actions of ingroup members?

“…We reasoned that, by creating a situation in which a valued object was actually broken, rather than using a hypothetical scenario, we might be able to detect signs of collective responsibility even in these younger children. Many of the pre-requisites for collective responsibility seem to be in place by five years of age: we know from previous research that children of this age categorise themselves as belonging to some groups and not others (Aboud, 2001) and that they are sensitive to even artificially created groups (e.g., Dunham et al, 2011;Nesdale & Flesser, 2001;Engelmann, Over, Herrmann, & Tomasello, 2013). Moreover, by this age, children accept responsibility for their own negative actions in interpersonal contexts and recognize and value the acceptance of responsibility in others (Kochanska et al, 2002;Vaish, Carpenter, & Tomasello, 2011, in press).…”