Differential developmental courses of implicit and explicit biases for different other-race classes

Area of Science:

• Developmental psychology
• Social psychology
• Racial bias development

Background:

• Racial biases form early and can persist into adulthood.
• Understanding the developmental trajectory of implicit and explicit racial biases is crucial.
• Perceived social status of outgroups may influence bias development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the developmental courses of implicit and explicit racial biases in Chinese children and adolescents.
• To examine how these biases differ towards outgroups with varying perceived social statuses (Whites and Blacks).
• To explore the relationship between age, perceived social status, and the development of racial biases.

Main Methods:

• Assessed implicit and explicit racial biases in 200 Chinese participants aged 4–19 years.
• Compared biases towards White and Black outgroups, differing in perceived social status.
• Analyzed age-related changes and correlations between implicit and explicit biases.

Main Results:

• At the youngest ages, implicit anti-White and anti-Black biases were similar.
• Implicit anti-Black bias remained stable, while implicit anti-White bias declined after age 10.
• Explicit anti-Black and anti-White biases showed a general decline with age.
• Implicit and explicit biases were uncorrelated across all age groups.

Conclusions:

• Developmental patterns of racial biases can diverge based on the target outgroup.
• Perceived social status may play a role in the differential development of racial biases.
• Implicit and explicit racial attitudes follow distinct developmental pathways.