| Data collection method: |
Each participant was invited into the testing area and asked to sit at a small table. After a brief warm-up period, the experimenter explained that there were two groups – the Yellow group and the Green group – and that children in the Yellow group got yellow scarves to wear and children in the Green group got green scarves to wear. She then asked children to reach inside a bag and pull out a token, explaining that if the token was yellow then they would be in the Yellow group, and if the token was green, then they would be in the Green group. (Although this process appeared random to the child it was actually fixed such that half of the children were allocated to the Yellow group and half of the children were allocated to the Green group.) Once children had chosen a token, the experimenter checked that children understood which group they were in by asking ‘What colour token did you get?’ and ‘What colour group are you in?’ In order to check that children could visually identify the two colour groups, they were then asked to take the appropriate colour scarf (yellow or green) from the table in front of them and put it on. Following the group allocation, children were asked how much they liked the two groups. The experimenter explained that children could show her using the scale. She placed the scale in front of children and, pointing at each face in turn, asked, ‘Do you really like them, kind of like them, think they're OK, kind of don't like them, or really don't like them?’ Once children had answered, E asked them how much they wanted to play with their own group and encouraged them to answer again using the scale. ‘Do you really want to play with them, kind of want to play with them, think playing with them would be OK, kind of don't want to play with them, or really don't want to play with them?’ Children were then asked the same two questions, following the same procedure, about the other group. Following this, the story choice measure was introduced. The specific nature of this story choice varied depending on the particular study in question. In studies 1 and 2, children were offered a choice between hearing a story that favoured their own group and disfavoured the other group or a story that favoured the other group and disfavoured their own group. In study 3, children were asked which story another child ought to hear - one that favoured the participant’s own group and disfavoured the other group or a story that favoured the other group and disfavoured the participant’s own group. In Study 4, children were offered choices between four stories that contained positive information about their own group, positive information about the other group, negative information about their own group and negative information about the other group. In study 5, children were offered a single choice between stories that favoured their own group, favoured the other group or provided balanced information. In studies 1 and 2, children also completed preference measures for the two groups after being read the story of their choice. The experimenter asked children to rate once more how much they liked and wanted to play with each of the two groups in the same manner described above. In all five studies, the experimenter concluded by the session by thanking children for their participation. To ensure that the procedure ended on a positive note, the experimenter told them that, although children in both groups could be mean, they were usually nice. As she told them this, she showed them a final picture in which the Yellow and Green groups played nicely together. Children were then told that the groups did not matter anymore and that they could take off their scarves. |
