Page 193 - Ana Kozina and Nora Wiium, eds. ▪︎ Positive Youth Development in Contexts. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2021. Digital Library, Dissertationes (Scientific Monographs), 42.
P. 193
contact-based interventions to reduce ethnic prejudice ...
Characteristics of the target group: cognitive development and age
We excluded the Cameron et al. (2006) study from our analysis of effect
sizes because not enough information was provided to calculate the effect
sizes for different age groups. The results show that the interventions have
small-to-moderate effects on children under 9 years of age, on participants
aged 9–11 years moderate-to-large effects and on participants over 12 years
negligible effects (see Table 1).
Interventions seem to have been the most effective when they involved
children aged 9 to 11. The biggest effects were obtained for 8- to 10-year-olds
(Berger et al., 2016; Vezzali et al. 2015a), which is in line with findings from
developmental psychology that show children in the transition from mid-
dle to late childhood are particularly susceptible to their social environ-
ment. This developmental period may represent a crucial point in the de-
velopment of prejudice as negative attitudes significantly increase/decrease
depending on intergroup contact opportunities (Raabe & Beelmann, 2011).
Two of the studies included in the systematic analysis specifical-
ly measured differences in intervention effectiveness based on the partic-
ipants’ age. Cameron et al. (2006) found younger children (5- to 8-year-
olds) hold significantly more positive attitudes and behavioural intentions
towards the outgroup than the older children (9- to 11-year-olds). However,
attitudes were only measured after the children had received the interven-
tion, so it may be a case of younger children initially having more positive
attitudes towards migrants than an age-related difference in intervention
effectiveness.
Cameron et al. (2007) also found that younger children (6- to 8-years-
old) have more positive behavioural intentions than older children (9- to
11-years-old), albeit the effects were not significant. The intervention had a
similar effect on behavioural outcomes for older and younger children. The
effect of multiple classification skills on prejudicial attitudes was also tested
that might contribute to prejudice reduction among older children. Theory
proposes that multiple classification enables children to perceive individual
characteristics of ethnic outgroup members and their similarities with the
ethnic ingroup and increases their capacity to remember information in-
consistent with their expectations, such as positive experiences with stig-
matised group members (Aboud et al., 2012). Still, the study found no effect
of multiple classification skills training on prejudicial attitudes, suggesting
that prejudice reduction may be independent of cognitive development in
193
Characteristics of the target group: cognitive development and age
We excluded the Cameron et al. (2006) study from our analysis of effect
sizes because not enough information was provided to calculate the effect
sizes for different age groups. The results show that the interventions have
small-to-moderate effects on children under 9 years of age, on participants
aged 9–11 years moderate-to-large effects and on participants over 12 years
negligible effects (see Table 1).
Interventions seem to have been the most effective when they involved
children aged 9 to 11. The biggest effects were obtained for 8- to 10-year-olds
(Berger et al., 2016; Vezzali et al. 2015a), which is in line with findings from
developmental psychology that show children in the transition from mid-
dle to late childhood are particularly susceptible to their social environ-
ment. This developmental period may represent a crucial point in the de-
velopment of prejudice as negative attitudes significantly increase/decrease
depending on intergroup contact opportunities (Raabe & Beelmann, 2011).
Two of the studies included in the systematic analysis specifical-
ly measured differences in intervention effectiveness based on the partic-
ipants’ age. Cameron et al. (2006) found younger children (5- to 8-year-
olds) hold significantly more positive attitudes and behavioural intentions
towards the outgroup than the older children (9- to 11-year-olds). However,
attitudes were only measured after the children had received the interven-
tion, so it may be a case of younger children initially having more positive
attitudes towards migrants than an age-related difference in intervention
effectiveness.
Cameron et al. (2007) also found that younger children (6- to 8-years-
old) have more positive behavioural intentions than older children (9- to
11-years-old), albeit the effects were not significant. The intervention had a
similar effect on behavioural outcomes for older and younger children. The
effect of multiple classification skills on prejudicial attitudes was also tested
that might contribute to prejudice reduction among older children. Theory
proposes that multiple classification enables children to perceive individual
characteristics of ethnic outgroup members and their similarities with the
ethnic ingroup and increases their capacity to remember information in-
consistent with their expectations, such as positive experiences with stig-
matised group members (Aboud et al., 2012). Still, the study found no effect
of multiple classification skills training on prejudicial attitudes, suggesting
that prejudice reduction may be independent of cognitive development in
193
