The Inheritability of Identity: Children's Understanding of the Cultural Biology of Race

Abstract

4 experiments explored adult and grade school children's beliefs about inheritability ofidentity, particularly the one-drop rule that defines children of mixed-race parents as belonging to the racial category of the minority parent. In Study 1, 8- and 12-year-olds (N = 32) and adults (N = 43) were asked the category membership of mixed-race children and the degree to which they resembled each parent. Study 2 investigated whether the same-aged children (N = 36) and adults (N = 18) expected mixed-race children to have white, black, or intermediate features. Study 3 explored children's (N = 46) expectations about the inheritability of the same properties in animals. Older children, like adults, were found to believe that mixed-race children have black racial features. Adults additionally believe that such children inherit the categorical identity of the minority parent. Study 4 repeated the same tasks with black and white children (N = 39) attending an integrated school. Unlike children attending a predominantly white school, children in the integrated school (regardless of race) expect mixed-race children to have intermediate racial features.