Childhood social interactions can combat stereotypes

Those early social experiences can also moderate tendencies toward stereotyping down the road, according to a new study published in the NPJ Science of Learning.

"The more time an individual spent in day care as a child, the more likely they are to overcome their own stereotypical beliefs during social interactions later in life," says senior author Arjen Stolk, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. "This results in a heightened sensitivity to the nuances of those they are engaging with."

The study set out to examine if individuals would adjust their behavior based on beliefs about who they were interacting with. Researchers employed a nonverbal digital board game involving approximately 100 participants from a broader longitudinal study in the Netherlands.

The game required participants to assist a partner, alternately believed to be a 5-year-old child or a 25-year-old adult, in finding hidden clues on the board. Each time the partner 'changed,' participants were shown a photo of who they were ostensibly playing with. In reality, all participants were paired with an adult throughout the game.

Participants spent slightly longer on the target location when they believed they were interacting with a child, drawing on a simple stereotype that children are less capable than adults.

Notably, there were no differences in the partner's behavior whether they were perceived as the child or adult.

In analyzing demographics of the participants, the team found that those who attended day care more frequently before the age of 3 were quicker to overcome their stereotypes at age 17, adjusting their behavior to treat both child and adult partners equally. Conversely, participants who lacked this early social exposure were more likely to hold onto their stereotypical views for longer. This trend held true regardless of the participants' socioeconomic background or whether they had siblings.

"Participants who went to day care were more socially flexible in their interactions with others," says lead author Saskia Koch, a postdoctoral researcher at the Donders Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging at Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands.

The co-authors conclude that the capacity for flexible adjustment in social interactions can be predicted by the enriching environment provided by day care.