Faculty Publications

Decoupling Children's Gender-Based In-Group Positivity From Out-Group Negativity

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Attitudes, In-group, Social identity

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Sex Roles

Volume

56

Issue

11-12

First Page

707

Last Page

716

Abstract

In the current study we attempted to determine whether children's gender-based intergroup biases reflect positive attitudes toward the in-group and/or negative attitudes toward the out-group. Third through fifth grade children were asked to determine whether positive and negative traits described boys, girls, both genders, or nobody. This methodology allowed for separate evaluation of in-group favoritism and out-group derogation. Girls and children who perceived their gender as important viewed their in-group as having more positive than negative attributes and more positive and less negative attributes than the out-group. Boys and children who viewed gender as less important viewed both genders as having more positive than negative attributes. These results support Brewer's (Journal of Social Issues 55:429-444, 1999) claim that in-group love and out-group hate are not reciprocally related. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007.

Department

Department of Psychology

Original Publication Date

6-1-2007

DOI of published version

10.1007/s11199-007-9235-z

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