The present research applies Devine's (1989) distinction between stereotype
knowledge and personal beliefs to the early development of racial bias in
young children. The responses of 110 South Australian children (66 girls an
d 44 boys) toward white and black stimuli were examined across the 5-6 and
8-9 age groups. Analyses revealed that both age groups were knowledgeable a
bout the cultural stereotypes associated with black and white skin colour.
Negative adjectives were more strongly endorsed for black stimuli than were
positive adjectives (the reverse was true for white stimuli). For 5- to 6-
year-olds, knowledge of stereotypes and personal beliefs for black stimuli
were highly congruent. In contrast, children aged 8-9 years were significan
tly more likely to report personal beliefs which diverged from their knowle
dge of pervasive cultural stereotypes, i.e. to endorse negative adjectives
as stereotype knowledge rather than personal beliefs. It is tentatively con
cluded thar the concordance of personal beliefs and stereotype knowledge fo
und among very young children is nor prejudice as typically conceived, but
rather a function of their inability to make personal judgments that diverg
e from dominant stereotypes. In contrast, older children have an increasing
ability to base evaluations on personal beliefs that may be inconsistent w
ith collective societal representations of social groups. Various explanati
ons accounting for the differentiation between personal beliefs and stereot
ype knowledge in older children are discussed.