About this session

Friday, 1:20 PM - 2:50 PM

Who and When Should I Help? Prosocial Behavior Within Intergroup Contexts

Research on children’s prosocial behavior towards individuals not from their social group could inform efforts to promote positive intergroup relations within society. Children show ingroup bias in their prosocial behavior at an early age and this hinders the emergence of positive intergroup relations, especially in contexts involving marginalized groups (e.g., based on race or immigration status) and within divided societies. This symposium will provide an international perspective with contributors from the USA, Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Paper 1 investigates children’s willingness to intervene in situations of authority-driven discipline disparities based on race within the USA. This research shows children are unlikely to intervene directly as bystanders when disparities are perpetrated by teachers (i.e., a high-status group). Paper 2 examines how peer group norms and the societal status of different refugee groups (i.e., Syrian or Ukrainian) are related to British children’s and adolescents’ bystander reactions to the social exclusion of refugees. Only adolescents strategically adapted their bystander reactions to fit with both societal status and peer group norms. Paper 3 considers the influence of group norms on pro-social risk taking among Northern Irish children, who live in a post-conflict and segregated society. 7–9-year-old children perceived the risk associated with including an outgroup member and the probability of ingroup reprisal when the norm was division. This symposium highlights how social status and group norms are associated with children’s and adolescents’ intergroup pro-sociality. Finally, a leading expert on developmental intergroup relations and prosocial behavior will facilitate the discussion of the papers.

Paper #1
Title	Children’s Willingness to Intervene Against Race-Based Discipline Disparity
Presenting author	Christina Marlow, North Carolina State University, United States

Paper #2
Title	Children’s and Adolescents’ Bystander Reactions Towards the Exclusion of Refugees: Who and When to Help?
Presenting author	Adam Rutland, Ph.D., University of Exeter, United Kingdom

Paper #3
Title	Is it Worth the Risk? Children’s Risk Perceptions of Outgroup Inclusion When Division is Normative.
Presenting author	Dr. Bethany Corbett, Ulster University, United Kingdom

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Session chair
Adam Rutland, Ph.D., University of Exeter, United Kingdom

Discussant
Dr. Laura K. Taylor, Ph.D., University College Dublin, Ireland

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