American Kids 'Expect' White Adults to Be 'in Charge,' Study Finds

Children in the U.S. are more likely to believe a white adult is "in charge" than a Black adult, according to research expected to appear in the September issue of Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

The paper, titled "Children use race to infer who is 'in charge,'" was put together by researchers with University of California Santa Barbara's (UCSB) Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, according to the Journal. Their findings add to ongoing research about how and when children identify race, and how they use that information to process their surroundings.

"American children use race to infer status: they expect White people to be in charge," researchers wrote.

In three separate studies, researchers showed a total of more than 600 children between ages 3 and 11 images of models who were photographed while standing in different positions. In the first study, race was the only variable researchers assessed. They found about 57 percent of the kids surveyed used race "to derive their status inferences." The paper further explained: "They expected a White model to more likely be 'in charge' than a Black model."

A second study focused specifically on posture by showing children photos of models of the same race who were posed in dominant and submissive stances. About 69 percent of the children surveyed identified the "dominant" poses as belonging to the people "in charge," the paper said.

The final study asked children to identify the "in charge" individual, with both race and posture variables at play. Researchers said they found posture to be a stronger indicator than race to the children as they picked which of the models were "in charge," with the children 2.73 times more likely to pick the model who was standing in a dominant pose. In contrast, the children were 1.18 times more likely to pick the white model over the Black model, the paper said.

"Overall, although children used both race and posture when inferring who was 'in charge,' they relied more heavily on posture," researchers wrote.

Researchers wondered in the paper's discussion section whether posture is a stronger indicator for children than race "because physical dominance cues emerge quite early in development," while "race-based status inferences may be rooted in societal constructs that are learned from one's environment."

The paper acknowledged the study had limitations, including those resulting from the survey's racial makeup. About half of the children who participated in the survey were white, researchers said. The majority of children representing the other half were Asian and Hispanic, with few Black children included.

Several research papers in recent years have assessed the ways in which children view and interpret race in their society, but the new paper by UCSB researchers said examination of younger children "remains limited." The paper pointed to some earlier explorations that found children 4 and younger "expect White people to have more expensive possessions than Black people." Other research has found that children tend to think white people will have nicer houses and better jobs than Black people, the UCSB researchers wrote.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), children begin recognizing racial differences "several years" before American adults want to engage with them in conversations about race. An APA feature published last summer said children learn racism early from parents, teachers, neighbors and others in their communities. Researchers at the University of Toronto have found children as young as 6 months old can start indicating an awareness of race by showing "a preference for members of their own racial groups." This may due to a lack of interactions early on with people of different racial backgrounds, the APA's feature said.

Newsweek has reached out to the APA for comment.