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About this paper symposium
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| Panel 30. Solicited Content: Anti-Racism Research or Interventions |
| Paper #1 | |||
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| Who’s to blame? Subtle messages about outgroups contribute to ethnic prejudice in middle- to late-childhood | |||
| Author information | Role | ||
| Dr. Daudi Van Veen, Ph.D., European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations (ERCOMER), Utrecht University, Netherlands | Presenting author | ||
| Rosanneke A.G. Emmen, Ph.D., Institute of Education and Child Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands | Non-presenting author | ||
| Judi Mesman, Ph.D., Leiden University College, Leiden University, The Netherlands | Non-presenting author | ||
| Abstract | |||
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Introduction: Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that parents’ and children’s ethnic-racial prejudice are related to one another. However, little is known about the specific parental practices that facilitate the intergenerational transmission of prejudice. In this study, we focus on an underexplored aspect of parenting relevant to prejudice research: parent-child conversations about the behaviors of others. Starting in early childhood, children try to understand the behaviors of others by reasoning about their mental states (Wellman & Gelman, 1992). To help children navigate such ambiguities, parents often use conversations where they try to guide the children towards a shared understanding (Grusec & Davidov, 2010). We argue that in everyday conversations about the behaviors of outgroup members, parents may convey subtle negative messages that contribute to the development of ethnic-racial prejudice. Hypotheses: We tested the following three hypotheses; older children will have lower ethnic-racial prejudice than younger children; higher mothers’ subtle negative messages about outgroups is related to higher children's ethnic-racial prejudice; the association between mothers’ subtle negative messages and children’s ethnic-racial prejudice will be stronger in older children vs. younger children. Study Population: The sample consisted of 249 pairs of mothers and children (aged 6 to 10 years) from the Netherlands. The majority self-identified as Dutch (n = 134), while most of the mothers with ethnic-racial minority backgrounds (n = 115) self-identified as Turkish, Caribbean or West-African. Methods: Using a novel measure, we analyzed parent-child conversations using a picture book task [anonymized]. This task consisted of six drawings of children with various ethnic-racial backgrounds. In these drawings, the children find themselves in ambiguous situations where their behavior may have led to an undesirable circumstance (e.g., a fictional child was standing next to a broken vase or window). The parent-child conversations about these situations were analyzed and coded. We operationalized subtle negative messages as the frequency with which mothers told children that members of outgroups had intentionally or unintentionally performed a certain act (e.g., purposefully or accidentally broke a vase or window). Additionally, we measured children’s ethnic-racial prejudice using the Multi-response Racial Attitude measure (Doyle & Aboud, 1995; Aboud, 2003). Results: In line with previous developmental findings, our results reveal that older children exhibit lower ethnic-racial prejudice. Noticeably, we find that higher mothers’ subtle negative messages about outgroup members’ behaviors are significantly related to children’s higher ethnic-racial prejudice. The association between mothers’ subtle negative messages about outgroups and children’s ethnic-racial prejudice did not differ for older vs. younger children, nor for ethnic-racial majority vs. minoritized groups. Discussion: These results highlight how seemingly innocuous conversations may contribute to children’s ethnic-racial prejudice development. Our findings suggest that parents may unknowingly contribute to prejudice development in childhood by describing the intentions behind the behaviors of outgroup children negatively. This finding suggests that even parents’ who may use a color-evasive approach to parenting can still convey subtle negative messages about outgroups that contribute to prejudice development. Our study uniquely contributes to the literature by uncovering one of the subtle socialization processes that shape children’s ethnic-racial prejudice. |
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| Paper #2 | |||
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| What and who is represented in children’s books about race? | |||
| Author information | Role | ||
| Katharine Scott, Wake Forest University, United States | Presenting author | ||
| AnneMarie McClain, Ph.D., Boston University, United States | Non-presenting author | ||
| Yanying Li, Wake Forest University, United States | Non-presenting author | ||
| Abstract | |||
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There have been many suggestions to discuss race with children from a young age (Perry et al., 2022). Indeed, many popular press articles have been written for caregivers on how to have such conversations with children. In a content analysis of these articles, Scott and colleagues (2020) found that 70% of articles suggested reading children’s books about race. However, little is known about who makes these books and what is captured in them. In response, this project systematically examines children’s books about race. In May 2023, we conducted 8 Google searches including: “Children’s books about race” and “Anti-racist children’s books.” We recorded suggested books for children between 3 and 7.99 years–those most likely to read picture books, and that were suggested at least 3 times–to capture popular suggestions. Our final corpus included 187 books. Two coders coded 20% of the books on which we calculated interrater reliability (all coefficients for kappa or Gwet’s AC1 > .80). Coders then independently coded the remaining books. This presentation focuses on four questions. Question 1: What is the racial composition of the creative teams creating children’s books about race? Books had at least one author/illustrator who was each of the following races/ethnicities (according to information on the internet): Black (60.96%), white (46.52%), Asian/Asian American (14.97%), Hispanic (9.63%), Native American (3.74%), Middle Eastern (2.67%), Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (1.07%). Given the high prevalence of Black and white authors, we noted that 35.83% of creative teams were all Black and 20.32% were all white. Question 2: Who is captured in children’s books about race? On average, books had characters who were 47% Black, 26% white, 7% Asian, 7% ambiguous, 5% Native American, 4% Hispanic/Latine, 2% Middle Eastern, 2% multiracial, and 0% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. Question 3: Does the racial representation in books differ based on the race of the creative team? This analysis focused on Black and white authors/illustrators as they were the most represented in our corpus. When there was at least one Black author/illustrator, there were more Black and fewer white characters (ps<.001). When all of the authors/illustrators were white, there were fewer Black and more white characters (ps<.001). Question 4: Does the valence of character depictions differ based on character race? Black characters were portrayed positively 84% of the time, other minoritized characters (collapsed due to limited representation) were portrayed positively 81% of the time, and white characters were portrayed positively 64% of the time (pairwise comparisons: ps<.001). In sum, children’s books about race are limited in what they discuss. Many popular books about race feature Black characters, but if people are using popular books to guide conversations about race, many races are minimally represented. Additionally, highly emphasizing positive Black portrayals could include good things like Black joy but could also prevent the portrayal of Black people having everyday experiences that can be mixed or even negative. Discussion will focus on how children’s books about race could be used for racial socialization but will require a nuanced approach. |
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| Paper #3 | |
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| Can children’s books about race foster White parents’ racial socialization efficacy and effectiveness? | |
| Author information | Role |
| Grace Reid, Haverford College, United States | Presenting author |
| Brandon Kinsler, University of Denver, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Natalie Masetti, Yale University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Barbara Thelamour, Ph.D., Swarthmore College, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Ryan Lei, Ph.D., Haverford College, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Introduction. White parents are often encouraged to talk to young children about race (Perry et al., 2022). Yet even those who want to discuss race with their children may not feel equipped to do so. We examined whether picture books would help White parents feel more efficacious discussing race with their children. We also asked if the type of book (whether and how it discusses racism) matters for White parents’ discussion of race, and for White parents’ and children’s racial attitudes. Study population. White parents (n=207; M=37.32, SD=4.34; 95.17% mothers) of 4- to 8-year-old children completed a pre-survey. Of these, 112 parents recorded themselves reading with their children, 148 completed a post-survey, and 116 of their children (M=5.64 years; SD=1.38 years; 57 girls, 57 boys, 1 non-binary, 1 unreported) participated. Methods. The pre-survey measured racial socialization efficacy using adapted measures of self efficacy (Sherer et. al., 1982), critical consciousness (Diemer et. al., 2017), and racial socialization competency (Anderson et al., 2020). We also measured factors that might moderate White parents’ efficacy when discussing race (e.g., internal motivation to respond without prejudice). Next, parents were randomly assigned to: 1) a no book control condition (n=30), 2) read a book with a Black protagonist (book control; n=41) 3) read a book about interpersonal racism (n=42), or 4) read a book about systemic racism (n=35). Parents in book conditions were asked to return an audio clip of them reading the book with their children. Parents who completed the pre-survey were sent a post-survey and a child portion. Children completed a modified Ambiguous Situations Task (McGlothlin & Killen, 2006), rated their explicit liking of Black and White boys and girls with a feeling thermometer (Perszyk et al., 2019), and estimated how long ago racism occurred (1 - “a really long time ago” to 4 - “now”). Hypotheses. We hypothesized that White parents’ racial socialization efficacy would increase from pre-test to posttest. This was expected to depend on book condition, such that the improvement in efficacy would increase linearly as books became more explicitly about racism. It was also hypothesized that children who read books about racism would be less likely to attribute negative intentions to racial outgroup members, feel more positively towards racial outgroup members, and perceive racism as happening closer to the present. Results. Although there were trends for efficacy to increase overtime, these effects were not significant. However, there was a significant interaction between book condition and timepoint (pre- vs. posttest) on parents’ perceptions of inequality, p = .028. White parents who read about systemic racism with their children were more attuned to inequality at posttest. Book reading also had a significant effect on children’s liking of peers, p =.014. Children who read about systemic racism felt more positively towards all targets compared to children who did not read a book. Discussion. Even when White parents do not feel efficacious talking to their children about race, reading picture books about systemic racism may positively impact their own and their children’s racial attitudes. |
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Picture books as a tool for parent-child ethnic-racial socialization: Context, content, and conversation
Submission Type
Paper Symposium
Description
| Session Title | Picture books as a tool for parent-child ethnic-racial socialization: Context, content, and conversation |