Do children’s emotions count? The relevance of affective factors for predicting children’s intentional behaviour in intra- and inter- ethnic contexts

When?

Monday 19 October 2009, 17:00 to 18:30

Where?

Room 04AD00 (AD building, ground floor) University of Surrey

Open to:

Public, Staff, Students

Speaker:

Leyla De Amicis

Leyla De Amicis, Children’s Research Centre, University College Dublin

A fruitful trend of research concerning intergroup relations in adults has, in the last twenty years, emphasized the relevant role of emotional factors as predictors for intentional intra- and inter-group behaviour. In contrast, relatively scarce literature exists on actual and intentional children’s intergroup actions, and children’s emotions in intergroup contexts have been mostly neglected. But is it worth studying children’s emotions in intergroup contexts? Are children’s emotions important for their interactions with same- and different- ethnicity peers? The first study I will present will demonstrate that school-age children’s emotions, above and beyond more “traditionally investigated” constructs such as stereotypes and general liking, are significant precursors of intentional contact with same- and different-ethnicity peers. The second presented experiment will show that specific emotions can predict differentiated action tendencies in children and preadolescents, when they imagine being bystanders in intra- and inter- ethnic bullying scenarios. In contrast with the literature on adults, it is evident that young participants’ emotions do not mediate the relation between social categorization and distinguished types of intentional behaviour. In conclusion, the presented empirical evidence will prove the importance of investigating emotional aspects in intra- and inter- ethnic relations among children. It also encourages us to see children’s emotions as key elements in educational programs designed to enhance their interactions with ingroup and outgroup members.