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

种族隔离、紧张和歧视继续存在于美国社会，这个项目研究种族不和谐如何从文化传播到儿童。该项目使用一种新的范式来研究儿童电视上对种族间不和谐的微妙--但反复出现的--描述如何有助于侵蚀儿童在童年中期(约7至10岁)的种族间关系。这项拟议的研究不仅旨在找出儿童种族间不和谐的原因，还可能为基于媒体的干预措施提供信息，以改善儿童的种族间关系。本项目侧重于通过电视描述跨种族互动中的情感不和谐，这是种族偏见的一个潜在文化来源。一项初步研究表明，儿童电视节目一贯地在同一种族的互动中描绘“共享的”情感表达，而不是跨种族的互动。暴露在这种情感分歧的模式中可能会影响儿童的跨种族信仰和行为。在三个拟议的实验中，使用文化快照范式来检验这种因果关系。7-10岁的儿童被随机分配观看描述(A)情感分歧、(B)情感汇聚(同一种族和跨种族互动中的共同情感)或(C)无人类(对照)的简短电视片段。暴露在情感分歧中(相对于其他条件)预计会导致儿童经历不同种族之间共鸣的减少和对不同种族互动的负面期望，进而导致儿童对其他种族同龄人的支持和友好行为减少。还测量了主持人和调解人变量，允许进行细微差别的假设检验。最终，这些研究提供了关于儿童种族不和谐的原因的关键信息和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优势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.