Periodic Reporting for period 5 - MINDTOMIND (From mind to mind: Investigating the cultural transmission of intergroup bias in children)
Berichtszeitraum: 2024-01-01 bis 2024-11-30
Prejudice and discrimination are pressing global problems. Across Europe and in the USA, the far right is on the rise, and individuals are often discriminated against on the basis of their membership in particular groups, for example their race, gender and/or sexual orientation. It is commonly supposed that younger generations display lower levels of prejudice than do older generations suggesting that these social problems may become less significant over time. However, empirical research demonstrates that the origins of these problematic attitudes and behaviour appear early in development, suggesting that we are passing on our biases to our children.
Understanding the origins of prejudice and discrimination requires interdisciplinary approaches from across the humanities and social sciences. In the MINDTOMIND project, we sought to contribute to this interdisciplinary mission by investigating how human psychology can lead to discrimination. We hope that, in doing so, we took one small step towards bringing about a fairer society.
In MINDTOMIND, we were interested in how best to characterise the psychological processes underpinning discrimination. We used a range of methods including experimental research, semi-naturalistic observation of social interaction, and content analyses of historical data. We investigated how children’s learning environment interacts with other features of their psychology in order to lead to intergroup biases.
Understanding the origins of prejudice and discrimination requires interdisciplinary approaches from across the humanities and social sciences. In the MINDTOMIND project, we sought to contribute to this interdisciplinary mission by investigating how human psychology can lead to discrimination. We hope that, in doing so, we took one small step towards bringing about a fairer society.
In MINDTOMIND, we were interested in how best to characterise the psychological processes underpinning discrimination. We used a range of methods including experimental research, semi-naturalistic observation of social interaction, and content analyses of historical data. We investigated how children’s learning environment interacts with other features of their psychology in order to lead to intergroup biases.
In one strand of research, we have been investigating how children learn to form first impressions of others. We know from previous research that, upon meeting a stranger, adults and children quickly jump to conclusions about whether or not that person is trustworthy or competent. These prejudiced first impressions have important social and economic consequences, for example, influencing hiring decisions and criminal sentencing. The mainstream view is that evolved features of human psychology make certain first impressions more likely – children are born with the capacity to distinguish leaders from followers and co-operators from defectors. In the MINDTOMIND project, we have refined and tested a learning based model of how first impressions from faces come about - the Trait Inference Mapping framework (TIM). Against the mainstream view, we argue that children learn to form these first impressions from exposure to the cultural messages common in storybooks, art, film, television and propaganda.
We showed that apparent evidence in favour of the nativist view is equally compatible with our learning-based account: learned first impressions appear early in development and occur quickly and automatically on meeting a new person. In further work, we investigated some of the ways in which learning occurs, demonstrating how children learn first impressions from observing the non-verbal behaviour of others and through social interactions with their primary caregivers.
In other research, we have investigated how children’s learning interacts with other features of cognition such as their motivation. Children are not merely passive recipients of information they receive from those around them, they seek out certain types of information over others. In the MINDTOMIND project we have built on our previous research showing that children prefer to read information that favours their own group and that this motivation to consume ingroup-favouring information influences their intergroup attitudes.
In a third strand of research, we investigated how best to characterise the nature of prejudice in adults. Previous research has suggested that adults tend to ‘dehumanise’ outgroups by denying them uniquely human mental states such as civility, rationality and warmth. Against this prevailing view, we have argued that outgroups are not denied uniquely human qualities, rather they are denied positive qualities. In a series of papers, we have shown that whereas outgroup members are denied positive uniquely human qualities such as civility and refinement, they are attributed negative uniquely human qualities such as spite and arrogance.
Understanding how social learning interacts with other features of human psychology such as theory of mind and social motivation can help inform applied research on how to encourage fairer social behaviours. In a further line of work, we have shown that encouraging children to reflect upon particular mental states of outgroup members leads them to engage in more prosocial behaviour towards members of that group.
We have published over twenty papers over the course of MINDTOMIND, including theoretical and empirical contributions. Research emanating from the project has been published in the top journals in our field including Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Perspectives in Psychological Science, Psychological Review, Cognition and Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
We showed that apparent evidence in favour of the nativist view is equally compatible with our learning-based account: learned first impressions appear early in development and occur quickly and automatically on meeting a new person. In further work, we investigated some of the ways in which learning occurs, demonstrating how children learn first impressions from observing the non-verbal behaviour of others and through social interactions with their primary caregivers.
In other research, we have investigated how children’s learning interacts with other features of cognition such as their motivation. Children are not merely passive recipients of information they receive from those around them, they seek out certain types of information over others. In the MINDTOMIND project we have built on our previous research showing that children prefer to read information that favours their own group and that this motivation to consume ingroup-favouring information influences their intergroup attitudes.
In a third strand of research, we investigated how best to characterise the nature of prejudice in adults. Previous research has suggested that adults tend to ‘dehumanise’ outgroups by denying them uniquely human mental states such as civility, rationality and warmth. Against this prevailing view, we have argued that outgroups are not denied uniquely human qualities, rather they are denied positive qualities. In a series of papers, we have shown that whereas outgroup members are denied positive uniquely human qualities such as civility and refinement, they are attributed negative uniquely human qualities such as spite and arrogance.
Understanding how social learning interacts with other features of human psychology such as theory of mind and social motivation can help inform applied research on how to encourage fairer social behaviours. In a further line of work, we have shown that encouraging children to reflect upon particular mental states of outgroup members leads them to engage in more prosocial behaviour towards members of that group.
We have published over twenty papers over the course of MINDTOMIND, including theoretical and empirical contributions. Research emanating from the project has been published in the top journals in our field including Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Perspectives in Psychological Science, Psychological Review, Cognition and Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
There are two areas in which we made progress beyond the state of the art.
First impressions: Previous research has shown that children and adults jump to conclusions about other people’s character from their facial appearance. These first impressions have wide ranging consequences for behaviour, contributing to societal discrimination. Before MINDTOMIND the mainsteam view was that these first impressions from facial appearance were the products of an innate mechanism for distinguishing friends from foe and leaders from followers. Over the course of MINDTOMIND, we have built up a substantial evidence base supporting the claim that first impressions from appearance are the product of cultural learning. Storybooks, films, and visual propaganda teach children that particular appearance cues are diagnostic of particular personality types. We have published a series of high profile theoretical and empirical papers on this topic that have had a significant influence over the field.
Dehumanization: Prior to MINDTOMIND, there was a broad acceptance that outgroup members were often denied uniquely human character traits and emotions and that this type of dehumanization played a causal role in harm against them. We have shown that the overwhelming majority of previous research on this topic contains an unacknowledged confound and that, when proper controls are incorporated into the study design, evidence for this form of dehumanization is considerably less convincing than it first appears. We have convincingly demonstrated that while outgroup members are often denied some uniquely human emotions (for example, sympathy and remorse) they are regularly attributed other uniquely human emotions (for example, bitterness and spite). There is now a much more nuanced and sophisticated debate surrounding the role of dehumanization in intergroup harm than there was 7 years ago.
First impressions: Previous research has shown that children and adults jump to conclusions about other people’s character from their facial appearance. These first impressions have wide ranging consequences for behaviour, contributing to societal discrimination. Before MINDTOMIND the mainsteam view was that these first impressions from facial appearance were the products of an innate mechanism for distinguishing friends from foe and leaders from followers. Over the course of MINDTOMIND, we have built up a substantial evidence base supporting the claim that first impressions from appearance are the product of cultural learning. Storybooks, films, and visual propaganda teach children that particular appearance cues are diagnostic of particular personality types. We have published a series of high profile theoretical and empirical papers on this topic that have had a significant influence over the field.
Dehumanization: Prior to MINDTOMIND, there was a broad acceptance that outgroup members were often denied uniquely human character traits and emotions and that this type of dehumanization played a causal role in harm against them. We have shown that the overwhelming majority of previous research on this topic contains an unacknowledged confound and that, when proper controls are incorporated into the study design, evidence for this form of dehumanization is considerably less convincing than it first appears. We have convincingly demonstrated that while outgroup members are often denied some uniquely human emotions (for example, sympathy and remorse) they are regularly attributed other uniquely human emotions (for example, bitterness and spite). There is now a much more nuanced and sophisticated debate surrounding the role of dehumanization in intergroup harm than there was 7 years ago.