How Children And Adolescents Evaluate Gender And Racial Exclusion

Exclusion from social groups is a source of conflict, stress, and tension in social life around the globe. How do children and adolescents evaluate exclusion based on group membership? This monograph is the report of an investigation of social exclusion in the contexts of friendship, peer groups, and school. Guided by social-cognitive domain theory, social psychological, and developmental theories on intergroup relationships, children and adolescents from four different ethnic groups were interviewed. The findings revealed that gender exclusion was more readily condoned than racial exclusion, and that exclusion in the friendship and peer group contexts were judged to be more legitimate than exclusion in the school context. There were also significant differences depending on the gender, age, and ethnicity of the participants. The results support the proposal that exclusion is multifaceted, involving a range of social and moral considerations.

Melanie Killen (University of Maryland) is Professor of Human Development and Associate Director of the Center for Children, Relationships, and Culture at the University of Maryland. She is co-editor (with Daniel Hart) of Morality in Everyday Life: Developmental Perspectives, co-editor (with Jonas Langer) of Piaget, Evolution, and Development, and editor of Children’s Autonomy, Social Competence and Interactions with Adults and Children. Her research area is social and moral development, including social reasoning about group inclusion and exclusion, implicit biases about groups, and cultural influences on development.

Jennie Lee-Kim (University of Maryland) is a doctoral student at the University of Maryland. Her dissertation is on how Korean-American children evaluate parental expectations regarding boys’ and girls’ peer activity preferences.

Heidi McGlothlin (University of Maryland) is a doctoral student at the University of Maryland. Her dissertation is on children’s implicit racial biases and the role of social experience on these types of biases.

Charles Stangor (University of Maryland) is Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland. He is co-editor (with Neil Macrae and Miles Hewstone) of Stereotypes and Stereotyping and co-editor (with Janet Swim) of Prejudice: The Target’s Perspective. His research area is intergroup relations, with a focus on stereotyping and prejudice.