Associate professor in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University and Cook Center Faculty Affiliate Dr. Sarah Gaither contributed to a paper recently published in the Journal of Developmental Science.
The paper addresses the ways in which young children rely on a mutual intentionality framework to confer group membership. There were two studies included in the paper, one focusing on gender (Study 1) and the other focusing on race (Study 2). When comparing study results, Study 1 revealed that participants relied on gender congruence to confer group membership as young as 3 years old (Study 1) but did not rely on racial congruence until 5 years old (Study 2).
Access the study here: Intentionality and Congruence Cues Shape Young Children’s Perceptions of Identity-Based Group Membership
