Children's and adults' detection of social biases

Identifying social biases in ourselves and others is a critical first step in addressing and, ultimately, overcoming their deleterious effects. This study (conducted from 2022 to 2023) was designed to examine how U.S. 4- to 10-year-olds and adults (N = 115; 67 male, 47 female, 1 non-identified gender; majority White; majority upper-middle SES) accounted for a protagonist who repeatedly acted negatively toward one novel (targeted) group and kindly toward another novel group. Over three-quarters of participants identified the protagonist as biased against the targeted group, although many children younger than 7-years never inferred a bias. Participants who did infer a bias typically did so after observing just one or two social interactions. Implications of these findings and important future directions are discussed.