Giving Priority to Race or Wealth in Peer Group Contexts Involving Social Inclusion

This study investigated children's and adolescents' predictions regarding intergroup inclusion in contexts where peers differed on two dimensions of group membership: race and wealth. African American and European American participants (N = 153: age range: 8-14 years. M-age = 11.46 years) made predictions about whether afterschool clubs would prefer to include a peer based on race or wealth and reported what they personally thought should happen. Between late childhood and early adolescence, European American participants increasingly expected that afterschool clubs would include a same-wealth peer (even when this peer was of a different race) whereas African American participants increasingly expected that the afterschool clubs would include a same-race peer (even when this peer was of a different level of wealth). Both European American and African American participants themselves thought that the clubs should include a same-wealth peer over a same-race peer, and with age, were increasingly likely to reference perceived comfort when explaining their decision. Future studies on the development of racial preferences will benefit from including wealth status information given that, with age, perceived comfort was associated with same-wealth rather than same-race status.

Automated summary

This study found that African American children and adolescents tend to prefer afterschool clubs to choose peers of the same race, while European American children and adolescents tend to prefer the clubs to choose peers of the same wealth status. However, regardless of race, participants from both groups generally believe that clubs should choose peers of the same wealth status.