Preschool Children's Attention to Environmental Messages about Groups: Social Categorization and the Origins of Intergroup Bias

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Issue Date
2006Author
Patterson, Meagan M.
Bigler, Rebecca S.
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The present study was designed to examine the effects of adults’ labeling and use of social groups on preschool children’s intergroup attitudes. Children (N = 87, aged 3 to 5) attending daycare were given measures of classification skill and self-esteem and assigned to membership in a novel (“red” or “blue”) social group. In experimental classrooms, teachers used the color groups to label children and organize the classroom. In control classrooms, teachers ignored the color groups. After three weeks, children completed multiple measures of intergroup attitudes. Results indicated that children in both types of classrooms developed ingroup-biased attitudes. As expected, children in experimental classrooms showed greater ingroup bias on some measures than children in control classrooms.
Description
This is the authors' accepted manuscript, post peer-review. The publisher's official version is available electronically from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00906.x .
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Citation
Patterson, Meagan M. (2006) Preschool children’s attention to environmental messages about groups: Social categorization and the origins of intergroup bias. Child Development, 77, 847-860.
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