RESISTING STEREOTYPES: EVALUATIONS OF PEER GROUP EXCLUSION

Gender stereotypes permeate peer groups, often functioning as the norms, or conventions, which contribute to group identity. Little is known about the conditions under which children will resist the norms of their peer groups, including norms that reflect stereotypic expectations. This study investigated this issue by measuring how children responded to members of their gender groups who disagreed with the group about gender stereotyped aggressive behaviors (female stereotype: relational aggression, male stereotype: physical aggression) as well as about social activities (football and ballet). Social domain theory as well as social identity theory provided the basis for formulating the design and the hypotheses. It was expected that children and adolescents would expect their peers to challenge the group, but that they would be concerned about the consequences of challenging the group in terms of social exclusion. Participants (N = 292, 9-10 and 13-14 years of age) assessed members of same-gender peer groups who disagreed with their group. The findings revealed that children and adolescents generally expected that their peers will resist the group's gender stereotypic norms surrounding aggression, but that this may be more difficult for boys when voicing their counter- stereotypic opinions. Further, participants themselves believed that they would be less influenced by gender stereotypes than would their peers. They asserted that they would, individually, be more likely to resist the group than they expect a peer would be. This research also revealed important barriers to resisting the group. Specifically, children and adolescents expected that group members who dissent from or resist the group are likely to be excluded from the group for voicing their dissent. This stands in sharp contrast to much research which indicates that children are not accepting of exclusion. Rejecting the behavior of one's peer group, especially when that behavior has negative intrinsic consequences for others, is a key step towards changing the culture of peer groups more broadly. However, the findings indicate that, while children and adolescents are optimistic about their peers challenging the peer group, they also see exclusion as a very real possibility and consequence for such resistance

Inclusion of refugee peers. Differences between own preferences and expectations of the peer group

Given the high numbers of refugees from Syria entering Germany in the recent years, the social integration of refugee youth has become an increasingly important issue in Germany. Thus, the current study examines adolescents’ decisions and reasoning around the inclusion of Syrian peers in Germany. Given the importance of group norms for adolescents, we assessed not only adolescents’ own inclusion decisions, but also what they would expect their peer group to decide and what they think their peer group should do. Moreover, adolescents’ underlying reasoning was assessed. The analyses revealed that adolescents thought they would be more inclusive of a Syrian peer than a German peer and that their peer group should be more inclusive of a Syrian peer than a German peer. These tendencies toward including refugees were justified with references to morality as well as social-conventions. In contrast to their own decisions and to what they think their peer group should, participants expected their group would be more inclusive toward a German peer than a Syrian peer. This was mainly justified by referencing aspects of group functioning and psychological information about the peers, whereas moral and prosocial reasoning was very rarely used for the expected group decision. In sum, these findings document that adolescents in Germany wish to be inclusive regarding refugee peers and that they balance attention to morality and other domains of social reasoning when thinking about inclusion decisions while they expect that their peers will not consider morally relevant information when making these decisions. These findings have important practical implications as they indicate the importance of interventions that focus on promoting inclusive peer group norms. (DIPF/Orig.

Social inclusion of refugee and native peers among adolescents. It is the language that matters!

This study investigated the role of refugee status and language skills for adolescents\u27 inclusion or exclusion decisions in hypothetical intergroup scenarios. 100 German adolescents (Mage = 13.65 years, SD = 1.93) were presented three scenarios in which groups of adolescents are planning leisure time activities, and peers from their own country (Germany) versus another country (Syrian refugees) with either good or bad German skills want to join them. Whereas adolescents\u27 inclusion decisions did not differ between the German protagonist and the Syrian one with good German skills, the Syrian protagonist with bad German skills was less likely to be included than either of the other two. These findings have implications for understanding the role of language in adolescents\u27 inclusion decisions. (DIPF/Orig.

Editorial: Challenging injustice: Understanding upstanding, civic action, and bystander intervention to promote justice

Throughout history, individuals and communities have come together to challenge injustice in the local community and across the globe. In recent years, we have seen communities rally together to advocate for changes in policy and practice to address injustices faced by marginalized and disenfranchised groups of people. For instance, communities have taken action through the Movement for Black Lives in the United States, the women's uprising in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, and the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. These challenges to social injustices are not only led by adults. Rather, youth engage in civic action to amplify the voices of those who are marginalized, isolated, or victimized and frequently organize to protest injustice and foster collective action through social media or other technology. These challenges to injustice often arise from community-led efforts, rooted in the unique contexts and histories of the local community. This special issue considers challenging injustice broadly to include bystander intervention in instances of bullying, harassment, or aggression, political and civic engagement, anti-racist or anti-oppression activism, and resistance to injustice in institutions and communities. Three overarching themes are featured in this special issue: (1) work examining bullying experiences and factors that motivate bystander intervention in response to bullying; (2) scholarship exploring identity, socialization, and critical action and (3) research focused on collective action and challenging inequalities

Context differences in children’s ingroup preferences.

Ingroup preferences when deciding who to include in 2 distinct intergroup contexts, gender and school affiliation, were investigated. Children and adolescents, in the 4th (9–10 years) and 8th (13–14 years) grades, chose between including someone in their group who shared their group norm (moral or conventional) or who shared their group membership (school affiliation or gender). With age, children displayed a greater ability to balance information about ingroup norms and group membership. Younger children were more likely to include an outgroup member who supported equal norms than were older children. Accompanying the choices made, there was a greater use of fairness reasoning in younger rather than older participants, and increased references to group identity and group functioning for school identification. There were no differences in ingroup preferences in the school and gender contexts for groups involving moral norms. Desires for equal allocation of resources trumped differences related to ingroup preference. For social-conventional norms, however, there was a greater ingroup preference in a school intergroup context than in a gender intergroup context. Thus, the results demonstrate the importance of context in the manifestation of ingroup preference and the increasing sophistication, with age, of children’s and adolescents’ group decision-making skills

STEM gender stereotypes from early childhood through adolescence at informal science centers.

Stereotypes about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are associated with reduced STEM engagement amongst girls and women. The present study examined these stereotypes from early childhood through adolescence within informal science learning sites (ISLS; science museums, zoos, aquariums). Further, the study explored whether interactions with male or female educators influenced STEM stereotypes. Participants (n = 997, female = 572) were ISLS visitors in the UK and USA who either interacted with an educator, or no educator. With age participants were more likely to report that "both boys and girls" are "usually", "should" be, and "can" be good at STEM. Independent of age, male participants reported that their own gender group "should" be good at STEM. Educator interactions did not influence stereotype responses. These results highlight early childhood as a key developmental window in which to challenge ideas about who can and should be proficient in STEM

Understanding Parents' Roles in Children's Learning and Engagement in Informal Science Learning Sites.

Informal science learning sites (ISLS) create opportunities for children to learn about science outside of the classroom. This study analyzed children's learning behaviors in ISLS using video recordings of family visits to a zoo, children's museum, or aquarium. Furthermore, parent behaviors, features of the exhibits and the presence of an educator were also examined in relation to children's behaviors. Participants included 63 children (60.3% female) and 44 parents in 31 family groups. Results showed that parents' science questions and explanations were positively related to children observing the exhibit. Parents' science explanations were also negatively related to children's science explanations. Furthermore, children were more likely to provide science explanations when the exhibit was not interactive. Lastly there were no differences in children's behaviors based on whether an educator was present at the exhibit. This study provides further evidence that children's interactions with others and their environment are important for children's learning behaviors

Assessing adolescents' critical health literacy: How is trust in government leadership associated with knowledge of COVID-19?

This study explored relations between COVID-19 news source, trust in COVID-19 information source, and COVID-19 health literacy in 194 STEM-oriented adolescents and young adults from the US and the UK. Analyses suggest that adolescents use both traditional news (e.g., TV or newspapers) and social media news to acquire information about COVID-19 and have average levels of COVID-19 health literacy. Hierarchical linear regression analyses suggest that the association between traditional news media and COVID-19 health literacy depends on participants' level of trust in their government leader. For youth in both the US and the UK who used traditional media for information about COVID-19 and who have higher trust in their respective government leader (i.e., former US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson) had lower COVID-19 health literacy. Results highlight how youth are learning about the pandemic and the importance of not only considering their information source, but also their levels of trust in their government leaders

Learning hand in hand: Engaging in research-practice partnerships to advance developmental science.

Developmental science research often involves research questions developed by academic teams, which are tested within community or educational settings. In this piece, we outline the importance of research-practice partnerships, which involve both research and practice-based partners collaborating at each stage of the research process. We articulate challenges and benefits of these partnerships for developmental science research, identify relevant research frameworks that may inform these partnerships, and provide an example of an ongoing research-practice partnership

Understanding Parents’ Roles in Children’s Learning and Engagement in Informal Science Learning Sites

Informal science learning sites (ISLS) create opportunities for children to learn about science outside of the classroom. This study analyzed children’s learning behaviors in ISLS using video recordings of family visits to a zoo, children’s museum, or aquarium. Furthermore, parent behaviors, features of the exhibits and the presence of an educator were also examined in relation to children’s behaviors. Participants included 63 children (60.3% female) and 44 parents in 31 family groups. Results showed that parents’ science questions and explanations were positively related to children observing the exhibit. Parents’ science explanations were also negatively related to children’s science explanations. Furthermore, children were more likely to provide science explanations when the exhibit was not interactive. Lastly there were no differences in children’s behaviors based on whether an educator was present at the exhibit. This study provides further evidence that children’s interactions with others and their environment are important for children’s learning behaviors