No evidence for an other-race effect in dominance and trustworthy judgements from faces

A variety of evidence shows that social categorization of people based on their race can lead to stereotypical judgements and prejudicial behaviour. Here, we explore the extent to which trait judgements of faces are influenced by race. To address this issue, we measured the reliability of first impressions for own-race and other-race faces in Asian and White participants. Participants viewed pairs of faces and were asked to indicate which of the two faces was more dominant or which of the two faces was more trustworthy. We measured the consistency (or reliability) of these judgements across participants for own-race and other-races faces. We found that judgements of dominance or trustworthiness showed similar levels of reliability for own-race and other-race faces. Moreover, an item analysis showed that the judgements on individual trials were very similar across participants from different races. Next, participants made overall ratings of dominance and trustworthiness from own-race and other-race faces. Again, we found that there was no evidence for an ORE. Together, these results provide a new approach to measuring trait judgements of faces and show that in these conditions there is no ORE for the perception of dominance and trustworthiness.

Racial and ethnic harm in patient care is a patient safety issue

Health equity and antiracism can contribute to enhanced patient safety in healthcare settings. The Oath of the Pharmacist states, "I will promote inclusion, embrace diversity, and advocate for justice to advance health equity." Part of this commitment means upholding these principles in patient care settings. Racial and ethnic harm negatively impact patient safety. Racial and ethnic harm are reviewed in the context of social learning theory, critical race theory, and medical and scientific racism. Pharmacists and healthcare systems must actively prevent and mitigate racial and ethnic harm to patients from personal and organizational levels to create a culture of safety. Part of this strategy involves acknowledging when you have contributed to patient harm, issuing a genuine apology, and offering to mend or re-establish trust between racially and ethnically minoritized patients and the pharmacist or the health system to contribute to patient safety. These strategies may help create a culturally safe space for racially and ethnically marginalized patients in the healthcare system.

How can white parents raise anti-racist children? Introducing the routes to effective anti-racist parenting (REAP) model

In response to highly publicized instances of overt racial injustice, there has been a recent resurgence of interest and commitment to identifying processes through which anti-racist behaviors develop among White individuals. One particularly important context in which anti-racist behaviors can develop is within families and as a result of childrearing. Theories of anti-racism typically neglect the role of families and family science research typically neglects a focus on anti-racist parenting outcomes. To further research and applied work on fostering anti-racism within White families, this paper introduces a new integrative model called routes to effective anti-racist parenting (REAP). The model draws on theories from various fields, including family science and social psychology, and uses a metaphor of nurturing a plant to explain the nuanced, multi-faceted approaches to anti-racist parenting. The model incorporates factors related to the "pot" (i.e., fundamental values and structure necessary to contain more specific anti-racist skills and behaviors), "soil" (i.e., characteristics that define anti-racist commitment), "seeds" (i.e., direct transmission of anti-racism skills), and "environment" (i.e., influential external factors). Finally, we describe the intended benefits that can be reaped from this intentional approach to anti-racist parenting. The REAP model contributes to the family science literature by providing an empirically grounded theoretical model describing the roles that parents can play in children's anti-racist development.

Negative first impression judgements of autistic children by non-autistic adults

Introduction

Although autism inclusion and acceptance has increased in recent years, autistic people continue to face stigmatization, exclusion, and victimization. Based on brief 10-second videos, non-autistic adults rate autistic adults less favourably than they rate non-autistic adults in terms of traits and behavioural intentions. In the current study, we extended this paradigm to investigate the first impressions of autistic and non-autistic children by non-autistic adult raters and examined the relationship between the rater's own characteristics and bias against autistic children.

Method

Segments of video recorded interviews from 15 autistic and 15 non-autistic children were shown to 346 undergraduate students in audio with video, audio only, video only, transcript, or still image conditions. Participants rated each child on a series of traits and behavioural intentions toward the child, and then completed a series of questionnaires measuring their own social competence, autistic traits, quantity and quality of past experiences with autistic people, and explicit autism stigma.

Results

Overall, autistic children were rated more negatively than non-autistic children, particularly in conditions containing audio. Raters with higher social competence and explicit autism stigma rated autistic children more negatively, whereas raters with more autistic traits and more positive past experiences with autistic people rated autistic children more positively.

Discussion

These rapid negative judgments may contribute to the social exclusion experienced by autistic children. The findings indicate that certain personal characteristics may be related to more stigmatised views of autism and decreased willingness to interact with the autistic person. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the social inclusion and well-being of autistic people.

The social learning and development of intra- and inter-ethnic sharing norms in the Congo Basin: A registered report protocol

Compared to other species, the extent of human cooperation is unparalleled. Such cooperation is coordinated between community members via social norms. Developmental research has demonstrated that very young children are sensitive to social norms, and that social norms are internalized by middle childhood. Most research on social norm acquisition has focused on norms that modulated intra-group cooperation. Yet around the world, multi-ethnic communities also cooperate, and this cooperation is often shaped by distinct inter-group social norms. In the present study, we will investigate whether inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic social norm acquisition follows the same, or distinct, developmental trajectories. Specifically, we will work with BaYaka foragers and Bandongo fisher-farmers who inhabit multi-ethnic villages in the Republic of the Congo. In these villages, inter-ethnic cooperation is regulated by sharing norms. Through interviews with adult participants, we will provide the first descriptive account of the timing and mechanism by which BaYaka and Bandongo learn to share with out-group members. Children (5-17 years) and adults (17+ years) will also participate in a modified Dictator Game to investigate the developmental trajectories of children's intra- and inter-ethnic sharing choices. Based on our ethnographic knowledge of the participating communities, we predict that children's intra-ethnic sharing choices in the Dictator Game will match those of adults at an earlier age than their inter-ethnic sharing choices. We will analyze our data using logistic Bayesian modelling.

Does disgust-eliciting propaganda shape children's attitudes toward novel immigrant groups?

Propaganda frequently leverages themes of dirtiness and disease to foster negative attitudes toward marginalized social groups. Although history suggests that this tactic is highly successful, empirical evidence is required to evaluate propaganda's potential efficacy. Inspired by previous evidence that children rapidly form attitudes about social groups, we conducted an exploratory investigation into whether 5- to 9-year-olds' (N = 48) judgments of novel foreign groups could be swayed by visually depicting one of these groups as disgusting in poster-sized illustrations. Across a wide battery of tasks, there was no clear indication that children readily internalize messages from propaganda in evaluating members of novel social groups. This finding held regardless of the type of disgustingness that was depicted in the propaganda, and generalized across the age range we investigated. Overall, our results are encouraging in a practical sense, suggesting that children are not easily swayed by negative misrepresentations of immigrants in propaganda.

How cues to social categorization impact children's inferences about social categories

Social categorization involves two crucial processes: First, children seek properties on which they can categorize individuals, i.e., they learn to form social categories; then children make inferences based on social category membership and might develop affective responses toward social categories. Over the last decade, a growing number of research in developmental psychology started to use novel social categories to investigate how children learn and reason about social categories. To date, three types of cues have been put forward as means to form social categories, namely linguistic, visual, and behavioral cues. Based on social category membership, children draw inferences about the shared properties of social category members and about how social category members ought to behave and interact with each other. With additional input, children might apply essentialist beliefs to social categories and develop affective responses toward social categories. This article aims to provide key insights on the development of stereotypes and intergroup biases by reviewing recent works that investigated how children learn to form novel social categories and the kind of inferences they make about these novel social categories.

A human learning optimization algorithm with competitive and cooperative learning

Human learning optimization (HLO) is a simple yet powerful metaheuristic developed based on a simplified human learning model. Competition and cooperation, as two basic modes of social cognition, can motivate individuals to learn more efficiently and improve their efficiency in solving problems by stimulating their competitive instincts and increasing interaction with each other. Inspired by this fact, this paper presents a novel human learning optimization algorithm with competitive and cooperative learning (HLOCC), in which a competitive and cooperative learning operator (CCLO) is developed to mimic competition and cooperation in social interaction for enhancing learning efficiency. The HLOCC can efficiently maintain the diversity of the algorithm as well as achieve the optimal values, demonstrating that the proposed CCLO can effectively improve algorithm performance. HLOCC has been compared with other heuristic algorithms on CEC2017 functions. In the second study, the uncapacitated facility location problems (UFLPs) which are one of the pure binary optimization problems are solved with HLOCC. The experimental results show that the developed HLOCC is superior to previous HLO variants and other metaheuristics with its improved exploitation and exploration abilities.

Group Membership Trumps Shared Preference in Five-Year-Olds’ Resource Allocation, Social Preference, and Social Evaluation

This study investigated five-year-olds’ priority between shared preference and group membership in resource allocation, social preference, and social evaluation. Using a forced-choice resource allocation task and a friend choice task, we first demonstrate that five-year-old children distribute more resources to and prefer a character who shares a preference with them when compared to a character who has a different preference. Then, we pitted the shared preference against group membership to investigate children’s priority. Children prioritized group membership over shared preference, allotting more resources to and showing more preference toward characters in the same group who did not share their preferences than those from a different group who shared their preferences. Lastly, children evaluated resource allocation and social preference in others that prioritized group membership or shared preference. Children regarded prioritization of group membership more positively than prioritization of shared preference from the perspective of a third person. The results suggest that children by five years of age consider group membership as of greater importance than shared preference not only in their own resource allocation and social preference, but also in their evaluation of others’ resource allocation and liking.

School Matters: The Effects of School Experiences on Youth's Attitudes toward Immigrants

Although schools have been described as an important socialization context for the development of intergroup attitudes, longitudinal multilevel studies are still rare within this field. This 3-wave study (with annual assessments) of German adolescents (N = 1292; M_age = 13.86; 51.8% female) examined the role of school experiences (perceived multicultural education, supportive peer relations in class, democratic classroom climate) in the development of youth’s negative attitudes toward immigrants. Longitudinal multilevel analyses revealed that a democratic classroom climate predicted youth’s attitudes at the individual level. At the classroom level class-average perceptions of a democratic classroom climate, supportive peer relations in class, and multicultural education (the latter solely among male, higher track students) were associated with less negative attitudes toward immigrants. In addition, age moderated the effect of school experiences on attitudes, showing that perceptions of a democratic climate at the classroom level mattered in particular among older adolescents. The findings suggest that school experiences are related to youth’s negative attitudes toward immigrants and can therefore help to reduce the risk of prejudice development.

Why is the literature on first impressions so focused on White faces?

We spontaneously attribute to strangers a wide variety of character traits based on their facial appearance. While these first impressions have little or no basis in reality, they exert a strong influence over our behaviour. Cognitive scientists have revealed a great deal about first impressions from faces including their factor structure, the cues on which they are based, the neurocognitive mechanisms responsible, and their developmental trajectory. In this field, authors frequently strive to remove as much ethnic variability from stimulus sets as possible. Typically, this convention means that participants are asked to judge the likely traits of White faces only. In the present article, we consider four possible reasons for the lack of facial diversity in this literature and find that it is unjustified. Next, we illustrate how the focus on White faces has undermined scientific efforts to understand first impressions from faces and argue that it reinforces socially regressive ideas about 'race' and status. We go on to articulate our concern that opportunities may be lost to leverage the knowledge derived from the study of first impressions against the dire consequences of prejudice and discrimination. Finally, we highlight some promising developments in the field.

All together now: Cooperative classroom climate and the development of youth attitudes toward immigrants

Although classrooms have been described as an important socialization agent for the development of intergroup attitudes, the role of classroom climate has rarely been investigated. This 5-wave study of Swedish adolescents (N = 892, 51.1% girls, nested in 35 classrooms) examined the role of cooperative classroom climate for the development of youth attitudes toward immigrants. The results of multilevel analyses showed that adolescents who perceived classroom climate to be more cooperative had lower levels of anti-immigrant attitudes compared to youth who perceived the classroom climate as less cooperative. Similarly, classrooms with a more cooperative climate were more positive toward immigrants than classrooms with a less cooperative climate. In addition, cooperative classroom climate did not moderate the effects of classroom ethnic diversity on youth attitudes. These findings suggest that cooperative classroom climate reduces the risk of prejudice development.

Overhearing Brief Negative Messages Has Lasting Effects on Children's Attitudes Toward Novel Social Groups

Societies are rife with out-group discrimination and mistreatment. One way that children might acquire social biases that lead to such outcomes is by overhearing derogatory or disparaging comments about social groups. Children (n = 121) overheard a video call between a researcher and an adult or child caller who made negative claims (or no claims) about a novel social group. Immediately and following a 2-week delay, older children (7-9 years) who overheard the message demonstrated stronger negative attitudes toward the group than children who heard no message. Younger children's (4- to 5-year-olds') attitudes were generally unaffected by these claims. Thus, overhearing brief, indirect messages from children or adults had robust and lasting effects on the social biases of children 7 years and older.

In sickness and in filth: Developing a disdain for dirty people

Cleanliness is universally valued, and people who are dirty are routinely marginalized. In this research, we measured the roots of negative attitudes toward physically unclean individuals and examined the differences that exist in these attitudes between childhood and adulthood. We presented 5- to 9-year-old children and adults (total N = 260) with paired photographs of a dirty person and a clean person, and we measured biases with a selective trust task and an explicit evaluation task. In Study 1, where images of adults were evaluated, both children and adults demonstrated clear biases, but adults were more likely to selectively trust the clean informant. Study 2 instead used images of children and included several additional tasks measuring implicit attitudes (e.g., an implicit association task) and overt behaviors (a resource distribution task) and also manipulated the cause of dirtiness to include illness, enjoyment of filth, and accidental spillage. Children and adults again revealed strong biases regardless of the cause of dirtiness, but only children exhibited a bias on the explicit evaluation task. Study 3 replicated these findings in India, a country that has historically endorsed strong purity norms. Overall, this research indicates that dirty people are targets of discrimination from early in development, that this is not merely a Western phenomenon, and that this pervasive bias is most strongly directed at individuals of similar ages.

Attentional saliency and ingroup biases: From society to the brain

There is ample evidence demonstrating intergroup biases on cognition and emotion. However, it remains unclear how exactly group identification influences these processes, with issues of context sensitivity and goal dependence remaining open to scrutiny. Providing a range of interdisciplinary material, the current review attempts to inform understanding of these issues. Specifically, we provide evidence revealing that individuals show enhanced attention for stimuli associated with an ingroup compared to an outgroup. At the attentional level, such biases can be explained by the assignment of different levels of saliency to ingroup versus outgroup targets. Critically, however, salience assignment is not fixed but varies as a function of context and goal-directed behavior. We suggest that the network in the brain previously associated with social and emotional saliency and attention - notably the anterior insula, posterior superior temporal sulcus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex - underpins these effects. Moreover, although attention typically favors ingroup targets, outgroup members can be prioritized on occasion. The implications of this viewpoint and future lines of investigation are considered.

Cultural Snapshots: A Method to Capture Social Contexts in Development of Prejudice and Stereotyping

The scientific identification of how social environments transmit intergroup biases is a transparently complex endeavor. Existing research has examined the emergence of intergroup biases such as racial prejudice and stereotypes in many ways, including correlations between racial diversity and children's prejudice, content analyses of features in the media, or experiments testing the influence of selected variables with unknown prevalence in children's environments. Yet, these approaches have left unanswered how the social environments that children engage with cause them to acquire racial prejudice and stereotypes. We provide a review of the existing literature on socialization of racial prejudice and stereotypes and then present a methodological approach that can be used to quantify and test causal relations between the features of children's social environments and intergroup biases. We provide examples of how this method has and can be used alongside a discussion of unique considerations when applied to child samples.

But how does it develop? Adopting a sociocultural lens to the development of intergroup bias among children

We argue that adopting a sociocultural lens to the origins of intergroup bias is important for understanding the nature of attacking and defending behavior at a group level. We specifically propose that the potential divergence in the development of in-group affiliation and out-group derogation supports De Dreu and Gross's framework but does indicate that more emphasis on early sociocultural input is required.