Context matters: Intergroup contact and positive reciprocity among Arab and Jewish children

In Jerusalem's complex ethnic landscape, where Arab and Jewish communities coexist with varying degrees of integration, this research examines how intergroup contact shapes young children's cooperative behavior with in-group versus out-group peers. Across three studies, we investigated how different levels of interethnic proximity influence the distributive decisions of 5-year-old Arab and Jewish children (M_age = 5.1; 50% boys; N = 320) in one-shot, costly reciprocal interactions with unfamiliar, age- and gender-matched peers presented via video. In Study 1, children from distant, ethnically homogeneous neighborhoods ("low-contact" setting) reciprocated fairness at chance levels (Arab children) or below (Jewish children), regardless of the partner's ethnicity. In Study 2, involving children from adjacent but still homogeneous neighborhoods with greater ethnic visibility ("medium-contact" setting), children displayed a clear group bias-reciprocating fairness toward in-group partners but not out-group ones. In Study 3, conducted in a bilingual, ethnically integrated school characterized by daily, structured intergroup contact ("high-contact" setting), group-biased behavior disappeared, and fairness was reciprocated across group lines. These three distinct behavioral patterns-emerging within a single city, using a unified paradigm-highlight how young children's cooperative behavior reflects the everyday social environments they inhabit. The findings underscore that social practices, such as fairness, could be adaptive responses shaped by the structure of intergroup experiences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).