INFLUENCE OF COGNITIVE-DEVELOPMENT, SELF-COMPETENCE, AND TEACHER EVALUATIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDRENS RACIAL IDENTITY

Levels of cognitive development and perceived self-competencies have b een shown to predict attitudes held by children in both minority and m ajority groups toward own-group members. Teacher appraisals may also i nfluence children's own-group attitudes by enforcing category-based ex pectancies and stereotypes about children's group membership. To test this idea, White and Native Indian children in kindergarten, grades 1 and 2, answered recognition, similarity, and evaluation questions by p ointing to pictures of Whites, Natives, and Blacks. Measures of childr en's concrete operational thought and self-competency were obtained, a s were classroom teacher ratings, of each child's cognitive ability, p eer acceptance, and physical development. Structural equation models i ndicated that teacher evaluations predicted White children's, but not Native children's own-group attitudes. Teacher ratings of Native child ren's competencies did not predict minority children's attitudes about themselves or own-group members. Implications of these findings for t eacher expectancy effects and factors influencing teacher's judgements of majority and minority group children were discussed.