A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF WHITE CHILDRENS RACIAL PREJUDICE AS A SOCIAL-COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Longitudinal changes between ages 6 and 9 years in white children's (n = 47) prejudice towards black people and Native Indians were examined , with use of the Preschool Racial Attitude Measure (PRAM II) and a mu ltiple-response racial attitude measure (MRA). Additional children (n = 40) were tested at age 9. In both samples, older children were less prejudiced on the PRAM than younger children, most of whom were prejud iced. On the MRA, which measured attitudes to each racial group indepe ndently, favorable-white and unfavorable-black evaluations did not dec line with age, but unfavorable-white and favorable-black evaluations i ncreased. These decreases in prejudice were associated developmentally with the perception that different races are more similar, that indiv iduals of the same race are more different, and that racially differen t perspectives are both acceptable. Perception of within race similari ty was associated positively with individual differences in prejudice al each age.