Children's attractiveness, gender, and race biases: A comparison of their strength and generality

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2014

Publication Title

Child Development

Volume

85

Issue

4

First page number:

1401

Last page number:

1418

Abstract

Although research suggests that facial attractiveness biases significantly affect social development and interactions, these biases are understudied in the developmental literature and are overlooked when designing interventions relative to gender and race. The authors, therefore, compared how much bias 3- to 11-year-olds (N = 102) displayed in the three domains. They also examined whether bias and flexibility (understanding that different social groups can possess similar attributes) were related across domains. Children's attractiveness biases, particularly for girl targets, were as strong as or stronger than gender or race biases. Flexibility, but not bias, was related across domains. Developmental scientists and policy makers should increase efforts toward understanding development of attractiveness biases and determine which methods of teaching flexibility are most successful at reducing bias across domains.

Disciplines

Behavioral Disciplines and Activities | Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms | Medicine and Health Sciences | Mental and Social Health | Mental Disorders | Other Psychiatry and Psychology | Psychiatric and Mental Health | Psychiatry and Psychology | Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or use interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the article. Publisher copyright policy allows author to archive post-print (author’s final manuscript). When post-print is available or publisher policy changes, the article will be deposited

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