Abstract
This thesis aimed to examine the way in which prejudice manifests in adults, with the focus on how prejudice and the reverse behaviors (empathy and prosocial) are developed in childhood.
In Study 1, to understand how children’s attitudes might change toward an in-group and out-group, at different age, 112 Chinese children’s ( age between 5 and 13.25) prosocial behaviors toward Chinese and non-Chinese (of European ethnicity) were examined by performing a story-telling task: I shared a story of individuals harmed intentionally or accidentally by another story character of either the same or opposite ethnic group with each participant, and participants were asked if they are willing to reward injured characters with stickers. Overall, it was demonstrated that Chinese children were more prosocial with Chinese individuals hurt intentionally versus accidentally. Such tendency was consistent across different ages. Interestingly, it was also suggested that in-group favoritism is more likely to increase with age for girls and the opposite for boys.
In Study 2, I examined how New Zealand parent attitudes (empathy and SDO) towards others relate to children’s empathy towards an in-group member. In this study, I used a sticker-sharing task to examine the empathy of 51 children (aged 5 to 12 years), and how children’s empathy relates to parenting disciplinary strategies and the general attitudes (empathy, SDO) of parents. As a result, we found that participants felt more empathy for a victim who was seriously hurt than a victim who experienced a minor hurt. Further, a significant positive correlation between parent talk about the wellbeing of others and younger children’s empathy was identified In contrast, parents’ general attitudes (empathy, SDO) were not related to children’s empathy.
The first two studies examined attitudes toward in-group and out-group individuals in children. In the second set of studies, my aim was to try two methods to improve attitudes toward out-group members, in this case, attempting to do so with adults.
We hypothesised that prejudice may be reduced by providing parasocial contact with outgroup individuals. In Study 3 we used a video interview of Chinese and Muslim individuals to emphasize that we all share similar emotions and mental states. Ultimately, our intention was to encourage 123 participants from Otago University to reconsider how to define in-group and out-group I used three conditions, the Empathy Positive Condition, Empathy Negative Condition, or No Empathy control condition. Humanity ratings improved toward both individuals from the community and individuals in the world over time, that is, from pretest (prior to watching the interviews) to posttest (after watching the interviews), with a bigger increase in positive attitudes for those in the world. This study suggests that any form of positive contact, for example, TV programmes or movies featuring members from minor ethnic groups, may be equally beneficial for facilitating prosocial attitudes toward outgroup members.
Humans, regardless of race, share 99.9% of our genes; even though the general public often give widely discrepant estimates (with a mean of 68%). To examine whether a hypothetical factor, the proportion of DNA shared across individuals, can affect their attitudes toward in-/out-group members, I conducted two studies in Study 4: first, I measured attitudes of 123 European New Zealanders towards in-/out-group members before and after showing them either an 11-minute video highlighting humans’ shared genetic makeup or a control video detailing the effect of music on children’s brain. We found that attitudes toward other ethnicities improved significantly after learning more about how much genes shared across ethic groups. In another study, I carried out a similar experiment with a group of 93 European participants from the United Kingdom.
To conclude, this thesis provided insight into how inter-group attitudes are shaped in both childhood and adulthood. Our results are consistent with previous research, indicating that humans are prone to (a) being diversified into in-groups and out-groups bason on social, cultural and biological constructs, and (b) showing less empathy toward out-group members. Nonetheless, we have found at least one thing that parents can do to influence children’s attitudes towards out-group members: when they talk to others, remember to show more empathy.