Children's beliefs in reciprocation of biases and flexibility.
Children display positive and negative biases based on peers' attractiveness, gender, and race, but it is unclear whether children who associate positive attributes with certain peers also believe those peers think positively of them. In each domain (attractiveness, gender, and race), we measured 3- to 11-year-olds' (N = 102) biases and flexibility and their beliefs in reciprocity of bias and flexibility by asking who would think positively of them. Children could choose one of two unfamiliar peers (forced choice assessment) or had the additional options of choosing both peers or neither peer (non-forced choice assessment). We found that children often displayed beliefs in reciprocation, with beliefs in positive bias reciprocation from attractive girls showing the largest effect sizes. These beliefs were significantly correlated with and were predictive of children's positive and negative biases and flexibility. The duality of children's beliefs may contribute to strengthening their biases and segregating social groups.
Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA. Electronic address: jennifer.rennels@unlv.edu.
Jennifer L
JL
Rennels
Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
Judith H
JH
Langlois
D001504:Beauty; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D011287:Prejudice / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012928:Social Desirability; D012938:Social Perception
Attractiveness; Bias; Flexibility; Gender; Race; Reciprocation