An implicit theory of groups: The understanding of groups in children, adolescents and adults, and its association with generalised prejudice.

Prejudice and discrimination are some of the most widely studied topics within the intergroup relations literature. At a time when intolerance, segregation and intergroup conflict continue to impact negatively on people's lives, the need to understand the bases of prejudiced attitudes remains a relevant and necessary area of study. If prejudice and discrimination are to be addressed however, it is necessary to understand how, when and why such attitudes develop.

The first part of this thesis (Chapters 1 and 2) reviews the current social and developmental thinking related to the development of prejudice; providing a critique of current theoretical models and highlighting gaps in knowledge. It argues that a more complete picture of the development of prejudice in children is needed, one which explores the role of individuals differences, such as social dominance orientation, and in particular an Implicit Theory of Groups. Chapter 3 outlines the collaborative work carried out with the Anne Frank Trust UK (AFT) as part of the ESRC SeNSS CASE (1+3) studentship. It details links between the work of the AFT and the current thesis as well as outlining the development of the general measure of prejudice used in the studies reported here.

On the basis of this critical analysis the second part of the thesis (Chapter 4 and 5) reports results from a series of studies with children, adolescents and adults. These studies aim to develop and test a measure of an Implicit Group Theory which account for factors such as the perceived malleability and homogeneity of groups, as well as constructs such as entitativity and essentialism. The third part of the thesis (Chapter 6) employs the newly developed measure of an Implicit Group Theory to test its association with generalised prejudice in adolescents and adults.

Results demonstrated striking similarity in the Implicit Group Theory of adults and adolescents, and reveal that both perceived malleability of groups and social dominance orientation are associated with generalised prejudice in adults and adolescents. The Implicit Group Theory of children (9-10 years) appears to be less well developed, but results indicate that it is associated with social dominance orientation, and has the potential to be a driver of prejudice at an early age. The work included in the thesis adds to the understanding of how a lay theory of groups may influence prejudice in childhood and adolescence as well as representing a potentially new and innovative approach for prejudice reduction programmes.