Children's implicit and explicit ethnic group attitudes, ethnic group identification, and self-esteem

Abstract

An increasing amount of research explores how children distinguish different aspects of ethnic group attitudes. However, little work has focused on how these aspects tie in with other social and psychological processes. In the present study, 112 black and white children aged 5-, 7- and 9-years completed tests of implicit and explicit ethnic group attitudes, racial and ethnic identification, and self-esteem. Whereas all children exhibited coherent identification with ethnicity defined in terms of family ancestry, only black children identified with ethnicity as defined by racial colour terms. There were no differences in black and white children's self-esteem. Children from both ethnic groups stereotyped only the black character. This stereotyping was stable with age. Positivity was greater towards the black than the white target on implicit and explicit tasks. Negativity towards the white target was evidenced on the implicit task. Positivity, but not stereotyping, was greater on the explicit task compared with the implicit task. Black but not white children's in-group identification was associated with implicit in-group stereotypes. Self-esteem was related to in- and out-group stereotyping and positivity for white but not black children. The implications of these results for social identity development theory and social identity theory are discussed.