ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5294-0569
Date of Award
12-20-2023
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Type
Dissertation
Abstract
Talking about race can improve children’s ethnic identities, prepare them for encounters with racism, and reduce their racial biases. Yet adults hold intuitive beliefs (e.g., children do not notice race) that limit their conversations about race with children. Children can also initiate conversations about race, but children have been found to avoid talking about race by 10 years. It has been suggested that children avoid talking about race because of colorblind norms, but children’s reasoning about color blindness as a norm is not well understood. Even less is known about the conditions under which children will talk about race. Across four studies, the current project uses a mixed-methods approach to investigate children’s perceptions of color blindness and their discussion of race. Comparison samples of adults were included to examine how beliefs about color blindness might change across development. An online survey tested whether perceptions of colorblind norms, like intuitive theories, are inaccurate. Children and adults underestimated the extent to which people support some colorblind beliefs. However, a second study revealed that factual information did not improve children’s perceptions of color blindness or willingness to discuss race. A third online study tested whether children and adults perceive colorblind norms as depending on group memberships. Results showed that adults differentiated between the colorblind beliefs of children and adults, as well the colorblind beliefs of Black and White people. Children’s use of social categories was more limited, but they also showed some differentiation of Black and White people’s colorblind beliefs. A final experiment tested whether a person’s racial group membership affects their ability to encourage children to talk about race. Children in this study were more likely to discuss race when encouraged by a White teacher than when encouraged by a Black teacher. Taken together, the findings suggest that children do not perceive racial colorblindness as a pervasive norm but perceive it as a group-specific norm. Additional work is needed to determine effective strategies for prompting children’s discussion of race. Future research addressing children’s racial dialogue should consider the social identities of the people encouraging racial discourse and engaged in these conversations.
Language
English (en)
Chair and Committee
Lori Markson
Recommended Citation
Reid, Grace, "Disrupting Perceptions of Color Blindness as the Norm: Children’s Talk about Race" (2023). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3216.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/3216