Collaborative Research: From Culture to Child: How collective perceptions of affective divergence shape interracial relationships in middle childhood

种族隔离，紧张局势和歧视继续坚持在美国社会和这个项目研究如何种族不和谐可能从文化传播到儿童。这个项目使用了一个新的范例来研究儿童电视中微妙但反复出现的种族间不和谐的现象是如何导致儿童在童年中期（7到10岁）种族间关系的侵蚀的。拟议的研究不仅旨在确定儿童之间的种族间不和谐的原因，但也可能告知媒体为基础的干预措施，以改善儿童的interracial relationships.This project focused on televised precautions of emotional discortions in cross-racial interactions as one potential cultural source of racial bias.一项初步研究表明，儿童电视节目一贯描绘“共享”的情感表达在同种族的互动，但不是跨种族的互动。暴露于这种模式的情感分歧可能会影响儿童的种族间的信念和行为。在三个拟议的实验中，这种因果关系进行了测试，使用文化快照范式。7-10岁的儿童被随机分配观看简短的电视片段，这些片段描述了（a）情感分歧，（B）情感趋同（在同种族和跨种族互动中共享情感），或（c）没有人类（对照）。暴露于情感分歧（相对于其他条件），预计会导致儿童经历减少种族间的同情和增加对种族间互动的负面期望，并反过来导致儿童对其他种族同龄人的支持和友好行为减少。还测量了调节变量和中介变量，允许进行细致入微的假设检验。最终，这些研究提供了关于儿童种族不和谐原因的关键信息，以及减少这种不和谐的潜在方法。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Racial segregation, tension, and discrimination continue to persist in U.S. society and this project examines how racial discord may spread from culture to child. This project uses a new paradigm to examine how subtle—but recurring—depictions of interracial discord on children’s television contribute to the erosion of children’s interracial relationships in middle childhood (~7 to 10 years of age). The proposed studies not only aim to identify a cause of interracial discord among children but may also inform media based interventions for improving children’s interracial relationships.This project focuses on televised depictions of emotional discord in cross-race interactions as one potential cultural source of racial bias. A preliminary study documents that children’s television programming consistently depicts “shared” expressions of emotion in same-race interactions but not cross-race interactions. Exposure to this pattern of affective divergence may influence children’s interracial beliefs and behaviors. In three proposed experiments, this causal relationship is tested using the cultural snapshots paradigm. Children aged 7-10 years are randomly assigned to view brief television clips depicting (a) affective divergence, (b) affective convergence (shared emotion in both same-race and cross-race interactions), or (c) no humans (control). Exposure to affective divergence (relative to other conditions) is expected to cause children to experience reduced interracial empathy and increased negative expectations for interracial interactions, and in turn, cause reductions in children’s supportive and friendly behaviors toward other-race peers. Moderator and mediator variables are also measured, allowing for nuanced hypothesis-tests. Ultimately, these studies provide critical information about the causes of racial discord in children and a potential means for reducing such discord.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.