Drew Nesdale

Social Identity and the Development of Children's Group Attitudes

This study assessed predictions drawn from social identity theory (SIT; Tajfel & Turner) concerning the acquisition of young childrens intra- and intergroup attitudes and cognitions. In a minimal group study, 5- and 8-year-old children (N = 258) were arbitrarily assigned to teams that varied in their drawing ability (social status). In addition, the study varied the extent to which the children believed they could change teams (social mobility) and whether the team had additional positive qualities beyond their drawing skill (social change). The children subsequently rated their liking for, and similarity to, the ingroup and the outgroup and the extent to which they wished to change groups. Consistent with SIT and research with adults, the results indicated that children as young as 5 years of age were sensitive to the status of their social group, and that ingroup status has important implications for both their desire to remain group members as well as their perceived similarity to other group members. The extent to which the findings provide support for SIT and the intergroup similarities between adults and children are discussed.

Bullying and Social Identity: The Effects of Group Norms and Distinctiveness Threat on Attitudes towards Bullying.

Drawing from social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), an experiment was carried out to determine the extent to which childrens attitudes towards bullying could be moderated by in-group norms and perceived threat to group distinctiveness. The study investigated the responses of 120 male primary school students aged 10-13 years from five schools. The children read a story about a popular in-group and an unpopular out-group which involved the manipulation of three variables: the norms of the in-group (bullying vs. fairness); distinctiveness threat (out-group similarity vs. out-group difference); and the behaviour of the in-group character towards the out-group character (bullying vs. helpful). It was predicted that a perceived threat to group distinctiveness, represented by similarity between the in-group and the out-group, and salient group norms that prescribed either bullying or fairness, would moderate the acceptability of bullying behaviours. Two story response measures were analysed: in-group character liking and whether the in-group character would be retained as a group member following his behaviour. The strongest support for social identity theory was revealed in the retention of in-group character variable. The in-group character was much more likely to have been retained as a group member when he behaved in accordance with group norms. Evidence was also found that bullying was more acceptable when directed at an out-group member who was similar and therefore possibly represented a threat to the in-group.

Ethnic identification, self-esteem and immigrant psychological health

Abstract This study focused on the psychological consequences of immigration. It was designed to assess the relative significance of a range of variables in predicting the ethnic identification, personal and ethnic self-esteem, and psychological health of members of a variety of immigrant groups to Australia. Of particular interest was the possible impact of the degree of cultural distance between the immigrant groups and the host country. The study included 510 adult participants from Hong Kong, Vietnam, Bosnia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. The results indicated that the main predictors of ethnic identification (i.e., immigrants’ identification with their culture of origin) were cultural distance, extent of friendship with Australians, the degree to which the immigrants were involved with their ethnic communities, and their ability to speak English. The immigrants’ level of ethnic identification was found to be the primary determinant of ethnic self-esteem whereas the main predictors of personal self-esteem were individual achievements and accomplishments. Finally, immigrant psychological health was mainly dependent upon personal self-esteem rather than ethnic self-esteem and/or ethnic identification. The findings are discussed in relation to theories and research on ethnic adaptation, in addition to social identity theory.

Effects of in-group and out-group ethnicity on children's attitudes towards members of the in-group and out-group

This study tested predictions drawn from social identity development theory (SIDT) (Nesdale, 1999a) concerning the development of young childrens ethnic attitudes. 5-7- and 9-year-old children ( N = 159) participated in a minimal group study in which they were assigned to a team which had higher drawing ability than a competitor team. The team members were revealed to be of the same (Anglo-Australian) vs. different (Pacific Islander) ethnicity (in-group ethnicity). The ethnicity of the competitor team was varied in the same way. The children subsequently rated their liking for, and similarity to, the in-group and the out-group, and the extent to which they wished to change groups. Children liked in-group members more than out-group members. Liking for in-group members was unaffected by the ethnic composition of the groups, but liking for outgroup members was reduced when the ethnic composition of the out-group differed from that of the in-group. Children felt most similar to same-group, same-ethnicity members and least similar to different ethnicity out-group members. The desire to change teams increased with age but there was no intention to align with same ethnicity individuals. The extent to which the findings provide support for SIDT is discussed.

Effect of Contact on intercultural Acceptance: A Field Study

Abstract A field study was conducted to assess the effect of an intervention designed to promote contact between international and Australian students in an Australian university residential hall on their subsequent intercultural contact with, and acceptance of, unfamiliar outgroup members. In addition, the research was designed to assess the extent to which three variables (i.e. cultural stereotypes, cultural knowledge, and cultural openness) mediated the effect of intercultural contact. Seventy-six Australian and international students in one residential hall (vs 71 Australian and international students in a control residential hall) experienced an intervention designed to promote intercultural contact over a 7 month period. The results revealed considerable support for the intercultural contact hypothesis — the pattern of residential hall contact tended to impact directly upon the dependent measures. However, the results also indicated that the intervention impacted differentially upon the responses of the Australian and international students and that the most plausible explanation for this effect related to the students’ intercultural knowledge and openness.

Social Groups and Children's Intergroup Attitudes: Can School Norms Moderate the Effects of Social Group Norms?

The effects of social group norms (inclusion vs. exclusion vs. exclusion-plus-relational aggression) and school norms (inclusion vs. no norm) on 7- and 10-year-old childrens intergroup attitudes were examined. Children (n = 383) were randomly assigned to a group with an inclusion or exclusion norm, and to 1 of the school norm conditions. Findings indicated that childrens out-group attitudes reflected their groups norm but, with increasing age, they liked their in-group less, and the out-group more, if the group had an exclusion norm. The school inclusion norm instigated more positive attitudes toward out-group members, but it did not moderate or extinguish contrary group norms. The use of school norms to counteract the effects of childrens social group norms is discussed.

Effects of experimentally manipulated peer rejection on children's negative affect, self-esteem, and maladaptive social behavior

Children (n = 88) aged 8 and 10 years participated in a minimal group study in which their rejection versus acceptance, by one other person versus a group of three people, was experimentally manipulated. Analysis of their self-reported negative affect, self-esteem, and maladaptive social behavior, revealed that, regardless of the source of the rejection (i.e., an individual versus a group), peer rejection caused a significant increase in the childrens negative affect, but had no effect on their self-esteem. The findings also indicated that peer rejection instigated an increased tendency towards maladaptive social behavior, and that the latter effect was fully mediated by the childrens negative affect. The implications of the findings for peer-rejection research are discussed.

Evaluations and Stereotyping of Accented Speakers by Pre-Adolescent Children

An experiment was carried out to examine the effect of language accents on childrens evaluations and stereotyping. Forty 10-year-old and 40 12-year-old Australian children from monocultural and multicultural schools listened to the same passage read in English by boys with strong and mild Italo-Australian and Viet-Australian accents, and broad (i.e., strong) and general (i.e., mild) Australian accents. In addition, for half the children each accent was given its appropriate ethnic designation, whereas the remaining children listened to unlabeled accents. The children rated the accents on evaluative (status, solidarity) scales and on traits comprising the stereotype of each group. The findings indicated that their evaluations were influenced by accent ethnicity and accent strength. In addition, the older but not the younger childrens evaluations were affected by accent identification and ethnic contact. The data also suggested that the accents evoked ethnic stereotypes. The emerging complexity of the language attitude-stereotype relationship is discussed.

Anxious and Angry Rejection Sensitivity, Social Withdrawal, and Retribution in High and Low Ambiguous Situations

OBJECTIVE Rejection sensitivity (RS) is a tendency to expect, perceive, and overreact to rejection. Our objective was to examine whether anxious and angry RS have specific associations with negative social reactions, and whether responses are intensified in situations of high rejection ambiguity. METHOD In two studies, youth (N = 464 and N = 371) reported their RS and anticipated responses to social scenarios. In Study 1, all scenarios portrayed overt rejection events. In Study 2, participants were randomly assigned to conditions portraying overt or ambiguous rejection. RESULTS Greater rejection expectation was associated with more negative reactions to rejection. Moreover, as expected, anxiety about rejection was uniquely associated with withdrawal, and anger about rejection was uniquely associated with retribution (i.e., reactive aggression). In the second study, RS persons responded more negatively than others to both overt and high ambiguous rejections, but retribution was intensified among participants high in rejection expectation when rejection was ambiguous, and withdrawal was intensified among participants high in anxious RS in overt rejection situations. CONCLUSIONS Consistent with the revised RS model, there are different patterns of emotions, cognitions, and behaviors in response to high and low ambiguous rejection events, which are heightened in youth sensitive to rejection.

Children’s attitudes towards an atypical member of an ethnic in-group:

Given that children have a strong bias towards their in-group, this study examined how children respond to a group member who is revealed to have negative qualities. One hundred and twenty Anglo-Australian children who were 6, 9, or 12 years of age heard a story about an (in-group) Anglo-Australian boy and a (out-group) Chinese boy who were good friends or bad enemies. In addition, the story characters displayed both positive and negative traits, and both enacted a positive and a negative behaviour. The results revealed that, as they increased in age, the children remembered more of the in-group character’s negative versus positive traits, saw themselves as increasingly dissimilar to him, and they liked him less, whereas they remembered more of the out-group character’s positive versus negative traits, saw themselves as increasingly similar to him, and liked him more. Contrary to expectations, the story characters’ relationship did not systematically impact on the children’s responses. The results are discussed in terms of the extent of support provided for social identity development theory.