Early Origins of Social Cohesion in Increasingly Diverse Societies

Project Information

KIDSNGROUPS

Grant agreement ID: 101001284

DOI

10.3030/101001284

EC signature date 30 April 2021

Start date 1 October 2021

End date 30 September 2027

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 999 992,00

EU contribution

€ 1 999 992,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITAT KONSTANZ
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - KIDSNGROUPS (Early Origins of Social Cohesion in Increasingly Diverse Societies)

Reporting period: 2023-04-01 to 2024-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

In-group favouritism and out-group discrimination are ubiquitous phenomena, threatening social cohesion in diverse societies. Notwithstanding growing urgency, we lack a systematic understanding of the causes and consequences of in-group out-group biases, or to put it more broadly, of social cohesion. The following pressing questions still need to be answered:

(1) At what age, among which groups and along which lines do in-group-out-group biases arise?
(2) What are the causal origins of social cohesion? What are the mechanisms producing in-group favouritism and out-group discrimination?
(3) What role does social cohesion play for people’s welfare, and thus the future of diverse societies?

KIDSNGROUPS strives to advance our knowledge on social cohesion by focusing on the early life cycle, and thus the years when the human brain grows at its fastest rate and people’s learning about themselves and the world around them is most formative. KIDSNGROUPS will provide new insights into the early origins of social cohesion; its first objective is to advance our knowledge at what age, among which groups and along which lines in-group out-group bias arise. Its second and main objective is to break ground regarding the key mechanisms underlying in-group out-group biases. It will focus on the role of the family (vertical socialization) and other socialization processes like imitation and learning (horizontal socialization) in shaping children’s preferences. Societal conditions may counteract vertical socialization efforts, and thus (in the parents’ eyes) threaten children’s welfare. In this case, parents may restrict children’s choices and directly impose their will on the children. The downside of such authoritarian parenting is that it imposes welfare costs on children, and may require costly effort on part of the parents. The third and final objective of KIDSNGROUPS is to shed light on the economic relevance of social cohesion. To the extent that “in-group love” and “out-group hate” prevent children from helping each other, in-group out-group bias may hamper children’s human capital formation, and thus the future success of diverse societies.

In summary, KIDSNGROUPS aims at propelling an ongoing scholarly debate forward, while at the same time broaching fundamental issues pertinent to how to grant increasingly diverse societies a peaceful and promising future.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The steps undertaken so far are critical prerequisites for our research agenda which aims advancing our understanding of the origins of social cohesion.

The first milestone was to develop a fully standardized tool to measure social cohesion among children as young as 3-years old. We have designed and rigorously pretested an age-appropriate, audio-visual, digital mobile app. This app is based on well-established experimental paradigms used for adults, adapted to address challenges such as children's limited attention, motivation, and competencies. Notably, its adaptability and scalability make it ideal for large-scale data collection efforts, while its availability in over 10 languages ensures its applicability across diverse cultural contexts.

Second, we established a collaboration with over 100 preschools, granting us access to their premises and, more importantly, to children from diverse backgrounds. We have assembled a unique dataset covering 3’499 children. We also achieved an unusually high participation rate among parents (2’300) and teachers (399). In addition, we have secured access to unique administrative data on preschools, including structural quality indicators and data on preschools' waiting lists. Leveraging machine learning techniques, we developed an algorithm to match this administrative data with our newly collected experimental and survey data on children, parents, and teachers. The ultimate goal is to generate a predictor for families’ sorting into preschools and single out the random component determining the final choice.

Together with practitioners, we have developed a tailored parenting program designed to foster responsive caregiving. This program comprises non-verbal, gender/race-neutral animated video clips, delivering practical parenting tips. A first version was piloted in spring 2023. The implementation of a refined version of the parenting program and the evaluation of its short-term effects on parenting style and potential spill-over effects on children’s social behavior is scheduled for the academic year 2024/25. We have also set the grounds for an intervention designed to strengthen social cohesion in preschools. Employing an observation-based approach, we gathered detailed data on the quality of teacher-child interactions and documented their relation with children’s discriminatory behavior. The next step is to prepare a teacher manual on how to foster social cohesion in their institutions.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

By now, we can provide first insights into the development of social cohesion over early childhood. Our key finding is the emergence of systematic in-group biases from age 4.5 onwards. This discovery is particularly significant as it contrasts with existing research, which predominantly focused on prejudices against specific groups (such as gender or race). Our result highlights the early development of a broader, systematic bias that is independent of specific group dimensions, providing robust evidence for an inherent tendency towards discrimination.

Combining our unique experimental and survey data with administrative records and leveraging the planned randomized interventions will allow us to facilitate a more nuanced understanding of the causal factors influencing social cohesion. A mixed-method design will enable us to isolate children’s intrinsic preferences and norm-responsive behavior and thus to delve deeper into the psychological mechanisms underlying children’s in-group biases.

App Design