Which Kid Lives in Which House? The Development of Associations Between Race and Class in Children

Abstract

Early associations between social categories, such as race and class, are highly relevant to children's developing social biases. This research (N = 57) investigated the development of associations between race and class, particularly by measuring associations of Black, White, Asian, and Latinx targets with houses of different value, and by investigating two mechanisms that might drive such associations: dichotomous priming and valence matching. The valence matching task asked children to match birds of different valence to one of either two (dichotomously-primed condition) or three (non-primed condition) trees of different valence, while the wealth matching task asked participants to match target children of four races (Black, White, Latinx, and Asian) to either two or three houses of different value. Results demonstrated that children associated Black and Latinx participants with a house of low value more often than with one of high value, and White and Asian participants with a house of high value more often than with one of low value. When not dichotomously primed, however, participants did not differentiate targets of different races into houses of different value, suggesting that dichotomous priming can artificially inflate race-class associations. Valence matching behavior did not significantly relate to associations between race and class. Future research can further investigate the impact of dichotomous thinking on the development of children's attitudes about social categories, ultimately promoting contexts that diminish, instead of amplify, biases.