Prior research has found that exposure to social diversity in early life, such as through day care, influences how people communicate. Those early social experiences can also moderate tendencies toward stereotyping down the road, according to a new study published in the NPJ Science of Learning. "The more time an individual spent in day care as a child, the more likely they are to overcome their own stereotypical beliefs during social interactions later in life," says senior author Arjen Stolk, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and principal investigator of the Mutual Understanding Lab at Dartmouth.
This results in a heightened sensitivity to the nuances of those they are engaging with." Arjen Stolk, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College The study set out to examine if individuals would adjust their behavior based on their beliefs about who they were interacting with. Researchers employed a nonverbal digital board game involving approximately 100 participants from a broader longitudinal study in the Netherlands.
The game required participants to help their partner locate hidden clues on the board. Participants were informed that their partner, playing from another room, would alternate between a child and an adult, and photos were shown at each switch. Most believed they were interacting with either a 5-year-old child or a 25-year-old adult, though in reality, they were engaging with a.
