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Encouraging children to mentalise about a perceived outgroup increases prosocial behaviour towards outgroup members

McLoughlin, Niamh, Over, Harriet (2018) Encouraging children to mentalise about a perceived outgroup increases prosocial behaviour towards outgroup members. Developmental Science, 22 (3). Article Number e12774. ISSN 1363-755X. (doi:10.1111/desc.12774) (KAR id:88036)

Abstract

We investigated whether encouraging young children to discuss the mental states of an immigrant group would elicit more prosocial behaviour towards them and impact on their perception of a group member’s emotional experience. Five- and 6-year-old children were either prompted to talk about the thoughts and feelings of this social group or to talk about their actions. Across two studies, we found that this manipulation increased the extent to which children shared with a novel member of the immigrant group who was the victim of a minor transgression. The manipulation did not lead to greater sharing towards a victim from the children’s own culture and did not influence their perception of a victim’s negative emotions. These results may ultimately have implications for interventions aimed at fostering positive intergroup relations within the context of immigration.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1111/desc.12774
Uncontrolled keywords: humanisation intergroup intervention mental state attribution prosocial behaviour
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: Niamh MCLOUGHLIN
Date Deposited: 11 May 2021 10:53 UTC
Last Modified: 05 Nov 2024 12:54 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/88036 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

McLoughlin, Niamh.

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