The Effects of Exposure to Diversity Among Children

By: Amanda Norton

My Personal Learning Goal questions the effects of youth’s exposure to diversity. I will be examining both social differences among children who have been socialized with diverse groups of people, compared to those who had been primarily used to interacting with members of their own race and culture.

I will examine several existing experiments, as well as form an analysis on the matter after analyzing the data, as well.

Japan Experiments With Diversity• In 1990, the government in Japan recognized labor

shortages throughout the nation and decided to encourage immigration into the country. The criteria for the new citizens included being of Japanese descent. It was believed that these people would agreeably fit in with those around them. The majority of these immigrants were from South America.

• According to the 2007 Boston Globe article, the people of Japan have a “traditional bias against outsiders,” and the author claims that the Japanese have struggled with adapting to these familiar, yet unknown, neighbors.

• “The new arrivals brought Latin culture with them.” The immigrants introduced new food, entertainment and religious customs to Japan.

…Continued• Unfortunately, many students in Japanese public schools

were unfamiliar with the Japanese language and were forced to drop out after falling behind in their studies or from being bullied for their cultural differences.

• The article revolved around one school in Hamamatsu, Japan. The school had children who were mostly from Brazil and Peru. The students’ names and appearances were similar to Japanese, however, these students spoke Spanish and Portuguese. By attending Mundo de Alegria (World of Happiness), these children are able to be continually educated without being criticized for their ethnicity and inability to speak Japanese.

What Does This Mean?• According to the indications of the article, Japan

is an insular nation whose exposure to differing ethnicities and cultures is minimal.

• As a result, the native Japanese children tormented the children of Latin descent and were not understanding of their differences and inability to speak Japanese.

Interracial Adoption Segment• TRA (transracially adopted) children are raised by parents with different racial

statuses; consequently, they tend to experience different racial socialization than children who are raised by their biological parents or children adopted within their race. Across several studies, “two thirds or more of TRA children fail to identify with their racial status.”

• In a study by the Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology journal, “nonadopted children across a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds develop increasingly complex and integrated perspectives on their ethnic and racial experiences. Children have been found to progress through physical, literal, social, and group perspectives on their cultural and racial experiences.”

• “Young preschool children's understanding of ethnicity and race is focused on superficial physical markers of race (physical perspective), whereas older children in elementary school bring an awareness of nonphysical features, such as heritage and cultural characteristics (literal perspective).”

• The article continues to bring light to the idea that the way in which a person thinks regarding race is impacted by one’s peers during adolescence.

The Experiment• Fifty Korean-born TRA children (27 girls, 23 boys) attending a Korean

culture camp on the East Coast of the U.S. participated in the study. The average age was 12.26 years.

• Nearly three fourths (72%) of the children indicated being teased because of their racial status.

• The study design was cross-sectional and nonexperimental.• The children were interviewed. There were three sections of the

interview, including Individual, Friendship, and Family domains. Examples of questions in the domains are: “Do you like being Korean? Why?” (Individual domain), “Do you notice differences between friends who are Korean from those who are not?” (Friendship domain), and “How are Korean families different from Caucasian families?” (Family domain).

• Interviews lasted 30-45 minutes long. The participants interviews were measured regarding Cultural Knowledge, Cultural exposure and Self-Esteem.

The observations based upon the interviews

As cultural exposure increases

within participants, so does PTA.

RESULTS

Results• Through the experiment, it was proven that TRA (transracially adopted)

children show adjustment levels equivalent to, and sometimes higher than, within-race adopted (WRA) children.

• TRA children also show equivalent or higher levels of adjustment (e.g., indices of self-esteem, well-being) than WRA children.

• The study results indicated that cultural exposure mediated the age differences in PTA (perspective-taking ability) development between TRA and nonadopted Korean children. These results suggest the reason for developmental differences between TRA and nonadopted Korean children is due to differential levels of cultural exposure.

• An interesting outcome from the experiment was that nearly half of the participants reported having pride in being Korean since their status made them distinctive in an otherwise mostly White environment.

What Adolescents Are Learning About Race and Ethnicity

• In November of 2007, a study was performed which measured adolescent’s interracial experiences.

• The study was performed online and consisted of 13-18 year olds who live throughout the United States. Thirty-nine participants completed the experiment from beginning to end, and were asked questions such as “On a scale of 0, meaning nothing, to 6, meaning a lot, how much do you learn from talking to people from different ethnic groups offline? and Can you give an example of what you learn?”

• “Of the racialized roles, 16 of the 39 or 41% of participants reported being witnesses, 18 or 46% reported being discussants, 7 or 18% reported being sympathizers, 16 or 41% reported being targets, 6 or 15% reported being advocates, and 11 or 28% reported being friends.” Thirty-three out of 39 participants took on at least one racialized role.

The Results• Participants assumed six different positions regarding race-

related education: as sympathizers, advocates, discussants, witnesses, targets, and friends.

• It was discovered through the experiment that the majority of racial prejudices among adolescents are learned from peers.

• It was observed that “even in multiracial schools, once young people leave the classroom very little interracial discussion takes place because a desire to associate with one's own ethnic group often discourages interaction between groups.”– However, it was observed among teens who admitted to

partaking in interracial relationships that they have more complex thinking about race and diversity than those who interact with members of their own race.

Effects of Social Behavior on Interracial Acceptance

• A study was done by the Journal of Educational Psychology regarding elementary school boys’ likeability towards both white and black students who exemplify acting appropriately, neutral and poorly.

• 128 kindergarten and first grade boys participated in this experiment. Half of the participants were white and half were black; half were middle-class, and half were lower. The subjects came from four elementary schools, all of which were racially integrated.

• The boys were taken individually into a room and were seated in front of a television screen. They were asked to watch short episodes of other boys in a classroom setting.

• “During the first positive episode shown, the boys were coloring; the target touched the passive child and complimented his work.”

• “The neutral episodes consisted of the children continuing in parallel play without verbal or physical exchanges.”

• “The negative episodes involved a boy crumpling the passive child's completed work and saying it was poor.”

• After each episode the screen became blank, and the child rated his degree of liking for the boy who he had just witnessed. The participant would rate each boy on a scale of one to seven, depending on how he would like him as a classmate.

The Results• Upon analysis of the experiment, white observers rated targets “as being

significantly less likable than black observers.”• “Black observers rated the targets in negative episodes less likable than

targets in positive episodes but not significantly different than targets in neutral episodes. Also differing from the white observers, black observers rated targets in negative episodes as significantly more likable and targets in neutral episodes as significantly less likable than white observers.”

• The most important of these differences involved the likability ratings of targets in the negative episodes. “White boys simply did not like boys who engaged in such behaviors. Black boys felt much less negatively toward such children. White observers also felt more positively toward targets in neutral episodes than did black observers.”

• Overall, the black observers rated target children more positively than the white observers did.

• To the experimenter’s surprise, the actions of the boy on the video appeared to be more significant than his race, according to the observers.

Personal Observations After researching many experiments relating to my Personal Learning Goal

(some of which were not covered), I have come to several realizations regarding exposure to diversity.

Early exposure to diversity among children:

Pros: Cons:- Earlier identity achievement - Lack of parental influence over

child’s thoughts and behaviors- Reinforce critical thinking - Confusion regarding one’s own culture- Easier acceptance of others - Possibility of improper information - Less stress on child in a diverse (stereotypes) being exposed to the environment experienced later on child

Personal Observations• Erikson’s concept of identity:

– “Identity involves two important elements: a persistent sameness within oneself, and a persistent sharing with others.”

– I have come to learn that this “sharing with others” aspect of Erikson’s theory is what causes cultural diversity.

• While it can influence the sharing and spreading of stereotypes, it has also been proved to influence critical and objective thinking.

• In my opinion, discussing racial aspects among peers is healthy for children. Although negative influences on the matter may arise along with the positives, I believe that with maturity will come the filtering of unnecessary ideas and concepts.

Personal ObservationsOverall, I believe that more benefit

than harm can come from a child being introduced to others who are different than him or herself at an early age. I feel that this exposure to diversity will cause less stress on the youth, specifically during the time when he or she will inevitably have to associate with someone of a different race or culture.

Works Cited• Aratani, Lori. "In Insular Japan, an Unusual School Embraces Diversity." The Boston

Globe 14 Oct. 2007. <http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/10/14/in_insular_japan_an_unusual_school_embraces_diversity/>.

• Lee, David C., and Stephen M. Quintana. "Benefits of Cultural Exposure and Development of Korean Perspective-Taking Ability for Transracially Adopted Korean Children." Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 11 (2005): 130-143. PsycNet. Lavery Library, Rochester. <http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=main.showContent&id=2005-04428-003&view=fulltext&format=html>.

• Tynes, Brendesha M. "Role Taking in Online “Classrooms”: What Adolescents are Learning About Race and Ethnicity." Developmental Psychology 43 (2007): 1312-1320. PsycNet. Lavery Library, Rochester. <http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=main.showContent&id=2007-16709-003&view=fulltext&format=html>.

• Steinberg, Jane A., and Vernon C. Hall. "Effects of Social Behavior on Interracial Acceptance." Journal of Educational Psychology 73 (1981): 51-56. PsycNet. Lavery Library, Rochester. <http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=main.showContent&id=1981-08816-001&view=fulltext&format=pdf>.