A National Essentialism Study

Presenter

Mia Xuan Baskey

Group Members

Sarah D. Berliner, Katrina Chang

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Tara Marissa Mandalaywala, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 5, 3:30 PM - 4:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A84, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 5 (A81-A100) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

Authors: Mia Baskey, Sarah Berliner, Katrina Chang, Jordan Legaspi, Tara Mandalaywala

Background: From an early age, children are adept at utilizing cognitive heuristics to make social judgements about others. Here, we examine two cognitive heuristics – essentializing Americanness (i.e., viewing it as stable over time) and stereotyping Americanness as White – that have been tied to anti-immigrant and anti-Black sentiment. 

Objectives: (1) Do American children show racial biases when essentializing and racially stereotyping who is American, viewing those who are White as “more American”? (2) What factors in a child’s environment influence the expression of these heuristics?

Methods: In an ongoing study, children see a series of hypothetical targets who vary in both their racial identity (e.g., White vs Brown-skinned) and ancestry (e.g., American vs Canadian vs Mexican heritage). To measure essentialism, children answer a series of essentialism questions asking if American identity is stable over time, for both a White and a Brown American child. We then ask children to rate how American four groups of people are: White immigrants, White Americans, Brown immigrants, and Brown Americans.

Preliminary Results: While American children rate Brown targets as less American than White targets, and children express this stereotype less as they grow older. Further, these children believe that both White and Brown Americans have a stable national identity; this essentialist tendency did not vary based on the racial identity of the person in question. Ongoing analyses will explore whether children’s exposure to diversity or parental-reported racial makeup of children’s social circles impact these associations.

Keywords

National Identity, Essentialism, Child Development, Race/Ethnicity

Research Area

Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

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