Ethnic majority/minority status: Children's interactions and affective responses to music

This study is an examination of the effect of classroom ethnic majority/min ority status on third-, fifth-, and seventh-grade children's (N=118) intera ctions and affective responses while these children listened to and discuss es a Latin salsa artist, an African-American rhythm and blues artist, and a European-American folk artist. Classroom ethnic-group proportion determine d African-American European-American children's classroom status. The study also examined the children's preference ratings for each artist. The resea rcher recorded the children's interactions on a laptop computer while they listened to and discussed the performers. The findings suggested that class room status affected girls' interactions more than boys'. The study reports statistically significant differences among the children's music preferenc es.