Racial and Ethnic Development in Children

**Racial-Ethnic Identity**

Strong ethnic identity has been associated with positive psychological outcomes and academic achievement (Rivas-Drake et al., 2014). Existing models see ethnic identity as fluid but also fixed. It is susceptible to changes due to social, environmental factors, family socialization, and age. Phinney (2003) proposed three stages of ethnic identity model: (1) un-examination, (2) exploration, and (3) achieved ethnic identity. The initial stage occurs when adolescents have not given their ethnic identity much thought. Exploration is the second stage, when adolescents learn more about the group and themselves. The last stage is when they have achieved their ethnic identity. The racial ethnic identity model is the foundation for understanding race’s relation to stereotypes and prejudice. Depending on the stages, one might have different stereotypes and prejudice toward one’s own group and members of other racial-ethnic groups.

**Intergroup attitudes and prejudices**

Racial-ethnic identity is an important factor in the development of intergroup attitudes and prejudices. In-group favoritism and biases for out-group members might depend on the stages of racial-ethnic identity development. According to Social Identity Theory (SIT), developed by Tajfel (1981), social identities derive from one’s social group memberships, such as gender, ethnic, racial, national, occupational, or social class (Tajfel, 1981; Barrett & Davis, 2008). Social identities define one’s place in the social world; when the individual integrates the memberships into self-concept, one is motivated to view that social group in a positive way. In-group favoritism and out-group denigration happen when a social situation allows for comparison made between two groups under important and meaningful dimensions. When the out-group is perceived to have a clear superior status to the in-group, individual must change strategies to achieve positive self-esteem. While leaving an in-group is one option, redefining either the in-group or the basis of the comparison is the second option. The last option is trying to change the social structure. Applying SIT model to explain the development of children’s attitudes and prejudices about in-group vs. outgroup, SIT proposes that favoritism occurs when children are aware of their racial and ethnic membership. In-group favoritism is correlated with children’s internalization of their racial and ethnic group, which helps to develop a positive racial-ethnic identity.

            The most recent large-scale studies on children’s attitudes about social group membership include the CHOONGE project (Barrett et at., 1997 as cited in Barrett, & Davis, 2008) and NERID project (Barrett et al., 2001 as cited in Barrett, & Davis, 2008). The studies looked at 42,116 children from 12 different countries. The results from both projects showed that children usually display in-group favoritism in their racial and ethnic attitudes from as early as 4 years old, with this bias either persisting throughout childhood or increasing until about 6 or 7 years of age, before declining to a more moderate level across the years of middle childhood. Ethnic minority children's attitudes to their own in-group are much more variable, with these children sometimes showing in-group favoritism, sometimes showing out-group favoritism, or no clear bias. Minority children do tend to show greater levels of in-group favoritism after the age of about 7 years. In-group favoritisms depend on children's perceptions of their in-group's status within the prevailing societal structure with in-group favoritism being less likely to occur when the in-group is perceived to have a low status. In-group favoritism is developed from the ages of 4 to 7. For Asian American children who belong to the minority group and most likely the low status group, it is even more important to start conversations about race with children as early as 3 years old to develop a strong racial ethnic identity and reduce bias toward out-group. Parents can play an active role in shaping their children’s attitudes.

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1. ↑ Rivas-Drake, D., Seaton, E. K., Markstrom, C., Quintana, S., Syed, M., Lee, R. M., Schwartz, S. J., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., French, S., Yip, T., & Ethnic and Racial Identity in the 21st Century Study Group (2014). Ethnic and racial identity in adolescence: implications for psychosocial, academic, and health outcomes. *Child development*, *85*(1), 40–57. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12200
2. ↑ Tajfel, H. (1981). Human Groups and Social Categories—Studies in Social Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3. ↑ Barrett, M., & Davis, S. C. (2008). Applying social identity and self-categorization theories to children's racial, ethnic, national, and state identifications and attitudes. In S. M. Quintana & C. McKown (Eds.), Handbook of race, racism, and the developing child (pp. 72–110). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.