Young Children’s Deference to a Consensus Varies by Culture and Judgment Setting
In: Journal of Cognition and CultureaSocial Learning Laboratory, School of Education, Boston University, Two Silber Way, Boston, MA 02215, USA bGraduate School of Education, Harvard University, Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA cDepartment of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Meliora Hall, P.O. Box 270266, Rochester, NY 14627-0266, USA * Corresponding author, e-mail: kcorriv@bu.edu
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Abstract
Three- and 4-year-old Asian-American and Caucasian-American children were asked to judge which of a set of three lines was the longest, both independently and in the face of an inaccurate consensus among informants. Half of the children made their judgments privately; the other half made their judgments with the experimenter present. In the private setting, children were mostly resistant to the incorrect testimony from the consensus. By contrast, in the public setting, children were more deferential, less willing to explicitly judge the consensus members as incorrect, and more likely to misremember the consensus as having made accurate line judgments. Confirming earlier findings, deference to the consensus was greater among Asian-American children. First-generation Asian-American children were especially deferential in the public setting.
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Young Children’s Deference to a Consensus Varies by Culture and Judgment Setting
In: Journal of Cognition and CultureaSocial Learning Laboratory, School of Education, Boston University, Two Silber Way, Boston, MA 02215, USA bGraduate School of Education, Harvard University, Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA cDepartment of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Meliora Hall, P.O. Box 270266, Rochester, NY 14627-0266, USA * Corresponding author, e-mail: kcorriv@bu.edu
Search for other papers by Kathleen H. Corriveau in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Elizabeth Kim in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Ge Song in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Paul L. Harris in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Three- and 4-year-old Asian-American and Caucasian-American children were asked to judge which of a set of three lines was the longest, both independently and in the face of an inaccurate consensus among informants. Half of the children made their judgments privately; the other half made their judgments with the experimenter present. In the private setting, children were mostly resistant to the incorrect testimony from the consensus. By contrast, in the public setting, children were more deferential, less willing to explicitly judge the consensus members as incorrect, and more likely to misremember the consensus as having made accurate line judgments. Confirming earlier findings, deference to the consensus was greater among Asian-American children. First-generation Asian-American children were especially deferential in the public setting.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1192 | 324 | 15 |
| Full Text Views | 385 | 42 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 305 | 84 | 1 |