Abstract
Research has found that preschoolers’ imitation demonstrates in-group bias and is guided by behavior efficacy. However, little is known about whether children’s sensitivity to behavior efficacy affects their in-group imitation. This study aimed to investigate preschoolers’ imitation tendency when group preference and behavior efficacy are in conflict. Participants were 4-year-old (N = 72) and 6-year-old (N = 72) preschoolers in China. They observed two demonstrators (one in-group and one out-group) pressing two different buttons, respectively, to turn on a music box, and were then asked to try it themselves. In the experimental condition, the out-group demonstrator always succeeded, whereas the in-group demonstrator failed half the time. The results showed that more 6-year-old children imitated the less-effective behaviors of the in-group demonstrator, whereas 4-year-old children showed no such inclination. Two control conditions confirmed that children chose to imitate in-group rather than out-group members (Control 1: both in-group and out-group demonstrators succeeded all four times), and could imitate according to efficacy (Control 2: two in-group demonstrators succeeded two and four times, respectively). These results indicated that 6-year-olds faithfully followed the in-group modeled behavior, regardless of behavior efficacy. Results are discussed through the social function of in-group imitative learning.
Highlights
As social animals, human beings have evolved to live in complex societies and spend a great deal of time interacting with others [1]
In the experimental condition (Fig 2), 4-year-old children showed no inclination between the in-group and out-group demonstrators (54.2%, χ2 = 0.167, p = .683) whereas 6-year-olds significantly inclined to imitate in-group demonstrators even though they succeeded less frequently than out-group demonstrators (75.0%, χ2 = 6.000, p = .014)
In the group control condition (Fig 2B), in which both in-group and out-group models succeeded deterministically, both 4-year-old and 6-year-old children preferred to imitate ingroup demonstrators (4-year-olds 70.8%, χ2 = 4.167, p = .041; 6-year-olds 91.7%, χ2 = 16.667, p = .000)
Summary
Human beings have evolved to live in complex societies and spend a great deal of time interacting with others [1]. Children acquire the concept of “us” and “them” at an early age. They show social preferences for in-groups of the same age, gender [3], race [4], and language [5]. It is difficult to determine whether preferences for these in-groups are caused by familiarity, cultural stereotypes, or in-group bias alone. To find the baseline conditions of in-group bias, Tajfel and colleagues designed the “minimal group” paradigm, in which teenagers were arbitrarily assigned to different groups, either at random or according to esthetic preferences, and found that arbitrary minimal groupings were sufficient to induce in-group bias [6, 7].
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