Experimenter effects on ingroup preference and self-concept of urban Aboriginal children

The present study investigated the effects of experimenter (Aboriginal vs. Angle), school culture, gender, and age on 117 Aboriginal-Australian childr en's ingroup preference and self-concept. Based on self-categorisation theo ry, an experimenter effect on ingroup preference but not on self-concept, w as predicted. Past research led to a further hypothesis that the children w ould show outgroup preference. Results confirmed that the children showed g reater ingroup preference when interviewed by an Aboriginal experimenter; n o experimenter effect was found with self-concept scores. However, they did not uniformly show outgroup preference as was predicted; scores were guile heterogeneous. While age had no significant effect an ingroup preference, a negative correlation existed between age and self-concept. Self-concept s cores were unrelated to ingroup preference scores. Implications of the find ings and limitations of the present study are discussed.