Stereotype knowledge and prejudice in children

Abstract

The present research applies Devine's (1989) distinction between stereotype knowledge and personal beliefs to the early development of racial bias in young children. The responses of 110 South Australian children (66 girls and 44 boys) toward white and black stimuli were examined across the 5–6 and 8–9 age groups. Analyses revealed that both age groups were knowledgeable about the cultural stereotypes associated with black and white skin colour. Negative adjectives were more strongly endorsed for black stimuli than were positive adjectives (the reverse was true for white stimuli). For 5‐ to 6‐year‐olds, knowledge of stereotypes and personal beliefs for black stimuli were highly congruent. In contrast, children aged 8–9 years were significantly more likely to report personal beliefs which diverged from their knowledge of pervasive cultural stereotypes, i.e. to endorse negative adjectives as stereotype knowledge rather than personal beliefs. It is tentatively concluded that the concordance of personal beliefs and stereotype knowledge found among very young children is not prejudice as typically conceived, but rather a function of their inability to make personal judgments that diverge from dominant stereotypes. In contrast, older children have an increasing ability to base evaluations on personal beliefs that may be inconsistent with collective societal representations of social groups. Various explanations accounting for the differentiation between personal beliefs and stereotype knowledge in older children are discussed.