Title:
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The Role of emotions in children's responses to intergroup contexts
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Researchc oncerningc hildren's intergroupr elationsh as mainly focusedo n prejudicial
attitudesa nd stereotypesR. arely have children's emotionsb eene xaminedi n intergroup
contexts,a lthougha few studiesh ave suggestedth e importanceo f this topic. In contrast,
literature on intergroup relations in adults has recently highlighted how emotions can be
important for predicting specific intergroup actions. The main purpose of this project was
to explore the role of children's emotions in predicting expected intergroup behaviours.
This issue was investigated in nine empirical studies.
First, children's emotions were investigated in relation to general liking toward ingroup
(White) and outgroup (Black) peers. Children were found to like same- and differentethnicity
peers to the same extent, but some differences emerged in the emotions they
experienced toward these targets. Moreover, positive and negative emotions contributed
significantly to predictions of White children's intentional contact with specific White
and Black members, above and beyond stereotypical beliefs and general liking. The
effects of stereotypical beliefs were weaker, and were sometimes mediated by emotional
factors. In addition, specific emotions (e. g., anger) were found to predict precise
behaviours in a perpetrator-victim paradigm, in which targets' ethnicity was manipulated.
In line with expectations, differentiated emotions predicted precise behaviours, but these
effects were independent of the impact of social categorization on intervention/avoidance
behaviours. A final study presented children with intergroup discriminatory scenarios,
and considered whether asking children to focus on their emotions or cognitions would
encourage more contact with outgroup members. Results indicated the need to consider
gender and age when planning interventions designed to facilitate positive intergroup
behaviours.
In conclusion, this programme of empirical work has demonstrated that emotions
contribute significantly to explaining intergroup behaviours in children. Future attention
to the emotional component in intergroup relations in children is thus suggested as a
major direction for future work in this area.
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