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Understanding when children develop a sense of group boundaries has implications for conflict and its resolution. Integrating social identity development theory and the developmental peace-building model, we investigated whether preferences for ethno-religious ingroup symbols mediate the link from child age to outgroup prosocial giving among 5- to 11-year-old children from both majority and minority backgrounds in three settings of protracted intergroup conflict (N = 713, M = 7.97, SD = 1.52, 52.6% female). Participants represented the conflict rival ethno-religious groups in each setting (Northern Ireland [n = 299]: 48.5% Protestant, 51.5% Catholic; Kosovo [n = 220]: 54.1% Albanian, 45.9% Serbian; Republic of North Macedonia [RNM; n = 194]: 45.9% Macedonian, 54.1% Albanian) and were largely from lower- to middle-class families; 4% of participants from other ethnic backgrounds were excluded from the current analyses. Multiple-group, bias-corrected bootstrapped mediation found that ingroup symbol preference mediated the link from child age to outgroup prosocial giving; that is, older children expressed higher ingroup symbol preference, which was linked with lower outgroup giving. Across Northern Ireland, Kosovo, and the RNM, there was some significant variation in the strength of specific paths; however, there was a significant indirect effect in all three settings. The findings advance cross-cultural understanding of how age relates to ingroup symbol preferences and outgroup prosocial giving across the elementary school years, with implications for children's long-term peace-building contributions in three conflict-affected societies.

Amid protracted conflict, children are raised in divided contexts that shape the development of their intergroup attitudes and behaviors. Social identity development theory (SIDT) suggests that in-group preference may contribute to more negative out-group attitudes and behaviors in middle childhood. In such contexts, in-group favoritism may shape resource distribution, a key indicator of prosocial behavior. This study examined the predictors of resource distribution among 387 children (age: M = 9.59, SD = 2.34) of majority (Jewish) and minority (Arab-Muslim) groups in Israel. Rooted in SIDT, a multiple-group chain mediation found that the effect of age on out-group prosocial giving was serially mediated by the child's in-group symbol preference and negative out-group attitudes. The mediation held across both majority and minority groups, highlighting the underlying developmental process of prosocial giving across group lines in a divided society.

Social injustices toward minority groups are pervasive around the world, and further exacerbated by global threats such as COVID-19 and climate change. Prosocial tendencies, such as empathy, moral reasoning, and helping behaviors directed only toward members of one's own social groups, discriminate against outgroups, and can perpetuate an unjust status quo. Yet, recent meta-analyses point to effective intervention programs that can foster prosocial responses across group lines. Developmental science has identified evidence-based interventions, policies, and programs to foster inclusive prosocial tendencies (toward both in-group and out-group members) to redress social injustices and inequities, and ultimately, lead to more just and peaceful societies. The recent developmental science informs five policy principles (e.g., developmental science, resilience, culture, collaboration, and sustainability) that can advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) around inclusion and peace.

Knowledge of symbols, which can be influenced by school ethos, informs identity construction in primary school children. This study aimed to explore Gaelscoil (Irish-medium) and English-medium primary school children's familiarity with Irish and European symbols. Thirty 9–12-year-old children in Ireland participated in this study; 15 from two Irish-medium and 15 from an English-medium primary school. A draw-and-tell data collection design was used and qualitative data was analysed using the constant comparative method. Results indicate children from both school types shared a number of Irish symbols, namely Irish emblems, Irish mythology, sports and material aspects of culture. Irish-medium primary school children had two further Irish symbol categories, the past as a symbol and physical characteristics of Ireland. European symbols shared across children from both school types included signifiers of the European Union (EU), monetary symbols and European countries. The Irish-medium primary school children had two further categories, Europe through an Irish lens and European cuisine, while the English-medium children had one further category, sport. The results suggest that by middle childhood, children in both school types have knowledge about a number of symbols associated with both national and European identities. Implications for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European identity among youth remains under-studied despite having the potential to promote inclusive benefits. Through a rapid evidence assessment (REA), this paper addresses two aims. First, it synthesises definitions of European identity among children, adolescents and young adults through thematic analysis, and summarises measurements. Second, it summarises the constructs associated with European identity among youth, providing a broad overview of existing research. Based on thematic analysis, European identity is operationally defined as a complex identity with which youth may choose to identify, uniting people based on a diverse range of factors but acknowledging the diversity of national roots and, in turn, affording benefits due to the sense of belonging it provides. School-based interventions and curricula, knowledge about Europe and the EU, political trust, benefits of the EU, and cross-border experiences, along with enhanced intergroup attitudes and civic engagement, are associated with stronger European identification. Avenues for future research are identified, including the need for a developmentally appropriate measure of European identity, the investigation of its relationship with other constructs, and exploring the potential of curricular interventions to promote the inclusive aspects of European identity on a national scale, particularly among younger pupils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of political violence are felt across generations; for example, extent of parental competitive victimhood (feeling that one's ingroup was relatively more victimised during the conflict) predicts adolescent's intergroup discrimination. We extend that research to children, born a generation after the height of violence. Participants were 223 family dyads with children aged 7–11 (M = 9.05, SD = 1.30; 52.4% female): Croatia (n = 82) and Republic of North Macedonia (RNM: n = 141), equally split by group status (i.e., Croatia: Croats/Serbs; RNM: Macedonian/Albanian). Parents reported on competitive victimhood while children reported on intergroup contact intentions (e.g., shared education initiatives). Moderation analysis across sites found a significant status by competitive victimhood interaction; increased parental competitive victimhood was associated with decreased contact intentions among minority, but not majority, children. We review site‐specific findings in relation to their historical context, concluding with the implications for shared education, reconciliation and peacebuilding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An overarching, supraordinate identity (e.g., European identity) can enhance intergroup relations if individuals recategorize ingroup and outgroup members into one, unified group. Yet, in conflict‐affected societies, ethno‐national identities may promote negative intergroup attitudes and behaviours. The effects of European and ethno‐national identities in combination have yet to be explored in childhood. If they can be integrated, the inclusivity of a supraordinate European identity may be felt despite the divisiveness of ethno‐national identities in post‐accord societies. This research assesses supraordinate identity integration in relation to quality intergroup contact and cross‐group friendships among the post‐accord generation in Croatia, Kosovo and Republic of North Macedonia (RNM). These sites have relatively recent conflicts, but varying relationships to the EU. Data were collected from 382 children aged 7–11, split evenly by minority and majority status (Croatia n = 90; Kosovo n = 107; RNM n = 185). Children across all three sites had integrated ethno‐national/European identities. Levels of identity integration varied by site, but not group status. Identity integration was positively and significantly associated with quality of outgroup contact and number of cross‐group friends, and this relationship varied by site. Integrated supraordinate identities have promising implications for intergroup relations and the future of peacebuilding in Europe. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring children's awareness of social categories could uncover the foundation of intergroup attitudes and behaviours. Indigenous to Ireland, Travellers are an ethnic minority marked by a tradition of nomadism, only formally recognised as a distinct ethnic group in 2017. This brief report analyses data from 148 children aged 6–12 (55% female) in the Republic of Ireland. A quantitative task was adapted and applied to assess children's awareness of symbols associated with the Traveller community. We found that primary school children could accurately categorise the symbols which relied on perceptually obvious markers of Traveller identity, and that this remained stable across middle childhood. However, children did not correctly categorise symbols related to less observable elements (e.g., language, trade, religion). To the best of our knowledge, these findings are the first to identify specific symbols which are salient in children's awareness about this marginalised group. Implications for school‐based interventions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the predictors of out‐group empathy in children growing up in a city devastated during the fall of the Former Yugoslavia. Children (N = 155; 76 male, 79 female) from both majority (64.5% Croatian) and minority (35.5% Serbian) ethnic groups, ranging from 6 to 11 years old (M = 8.77, SD = 1.15) participated. A multiple‐group path analysis in Mplus found that age, general empathy, quality contact and perceived intergroup conflict related to higher out‐group empathy. There were no significant links from gender, quantity contact or out‐group friends to out‐group empathy. The findings were consistent across majority and minority ethnic groups. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empathy for salient outgroups can promote positive intergroup attitudes and prosocial behaviours. Less is known about which factors may promote empathy, particularly among children, in contexts of intergroup conflict. Empathy may depend on underlying cognitions, such as social essentialist beliefs, that is, believing that certain social categories have an underlying essence that causes members to share observable and non‐observable properties. This study explored the influence of essentialist beliefs about ethno‐religious categories on outgroup‐directed empathy, attitudes and prosocial behaviours of children living in Northern Ireland (N = 88; M = 7.09, SD = 1.47 years old). Bootstrapped chain mediation found that lower essentialist beliefs predicted greater outgroup‐directed empathy, which was positively related to outgroup attitudes, which in turn, predicted more outgroup prosocial behaviours. The findings highlight the importance of essentialist beliefs as an underlying factor promoting empathy, with links to prosocial behaviours in settings of intergroup conflict. The intervention implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The persistence of intergroup conflicts around the world creates urgency for research on child development in such settings. Complementing what we know about internalizing and externalizing developmental outcomes, in this article, I shift the focus to children's prosocial behaviors and more specifically, the Developmental Peacebuilding Model (DPM). The DPM makes three main contributions: It (a) integrates a developmental intergroup framework and socioecological perspective with a peace‐building paradigm to examine the target and type of children's prosocial behavior in settings of intergroup conflict; (b) outlines how children's outgroup prosocial behaviors, which promote constructive change at different levels of social ecology, can be understood as peace building and fostering social cohesion; and (c) has implications for research and global policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: How and when children develop an understanding of group boundaries have implications for conflict resolution. When social divisions are not perceptually distinct, symbols become particularly important. Framed by the Social Identity Development Theory, this study was designed to assess children's categorization of symbols with conflict‐related group labels. Method: In Northern Ireland, 218 children (M = 8.14, SD = 1.83, range 5–11 years old) participated in a novel task designed for this study. The sample was evenly split by child gender and community background. Results: Children sorted symbols above chance with both the hypothesized national (i.e., British/Irish) and ethno‐political (i.e., Protestant/Catholic) labels, showing a stronger association for the former. Sorting was also stronger for ingroup symbols, compared to outgroup symbols, and increased with age. Conclusion: These findings reflect the potential role that a divided social world has on the development of children's understanding of conflict‐related groups. The results also have implications for intergroup relations among children in divided societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explored how to promote constructive intergroup relations among children and young people in a context of protracted conflict. Across two studies, the Empathy–Attitudes–Action model was examined in middle childhood and adolescence. More specifically, we tested the relations among dispositional empathy, out‐group attitudes, and prosocial behaviors for youth born after the peace agreement in Northern Ireland. In one correlational (Study 1: N = 132; 6–11 years old: M = 8.42 years, SD = 1.23) and one longitudinal design (Study 2: N = 466; 14–15 years old), bootstrapped mediation analyses revealed that empathy was associated with more positive attitudes toward the conflict‐related out‐group, which in turn, was related to higher out‐group prosocial behaviors, both self‐report and concrete actions. Given that out‐group prosocial acts in a setting of intergroup conflict may serve as the antecedents for peacebuilding among children and adolescents, this study has intervention implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over half of refugees are school‐aged children. In host communities, children's attitudes and behaviours are important for the integration of refugee children. This study examines the empathy–attitudes–action model in middle childhood (N = 94, 8 to 11 years old). In both the experimental and control conditions, children were introduced to a (fictional) refugee and told that he or she would be moving to their school. The experimental condition also listened to a storybook about the child's refugee experience. Empathy, outgroup attitudes, and prosocial behaviour toward the incoming child, and refugees as a group, were measured. Although mediation was not supported, the storybook condition reported more empathy and helping intentions, and attitudes predicted helping intentions but not giving to refugees. Results highlight how host‐society children can welcome refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing children's awareness of ethnic identity and group boundaries is important in conflict-affected societies. For example, in the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM), tense interethnic relations remain and can be seen in the largely separate living patterns, particularly in schools. This brief report analyses data from 194 children (57.7% female, 42.3% male; 45.9% Macedonian, 54.1% Albanian) in primary school. A series of one-sample t tests, with Bonferroni correction, demonstrate the viability of a new quantitative tool for measuring children's awareness of symbols relevant to interethnic relations in RNM. The findings indicate that primary school-age children can sort both ingroup and outgroup symbols with the hypothesized ethnic group. Moreover, ethnic awareness is present among the earliest school grades and increases with age. This approach may be used in future research and adapted in other conflict-affected settings to better understand the foundations of children's interethnic attitudes and behaviors. Public Significance Statement: This paper investigates children's awareness of conflict-related groups, including patterns across primary school years and by majority/minority status. Future research can utilize the identified salient category symbols in experimental designs. The instrument may also be used in future studies linking ethnic awareness to intergroup attitudes and behaviors or adapted to other conflict-affected societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the prevention and intervention against violence in childhood is urgently needed. In contrast to a narrow approach, typically focused on physical violence against children, the authors offer a novel and urgently needed framework that captures the episodic, structural and cultural nature of both violence and peace. Ranging from intersectional risks to global climate change, we comment on the utility of this approach, as well as possible extensions. We echo the call for recognizing children's agency, shown in our own research on children's peacebuilding in settings of protracted political conflict, and link the points raised to other global policy frameworks, such as United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth Peace and Security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prosocial behaviour (e.g., comforting, helping, sharing) is associated with important positive life outcomes. Historical and recent theory, evidence and personal accounts within the autism community present a mixed picture regarding Autistic children's prosocial engagement. This systematic review consolidates, for the first time, how empirical studies have been measuring Autistic children's prosocial behaviour to date (objective one). This review clarifies what knowledge the evidence provides, specifically how the type (e.g., comforting, helping, sharing), target (e.g., parent, experimenter, Autistic or neurotypical peer) and timing (e.g., young, middle, and late childhood) affect Autistic children's prosocial behaviour (objective two). Relevant published records were identified through systematic searches of three electronic databases: PsychINFO, PubMED and Embase. Thirty studies presented in 29 articles met eligibility criteria and were included for data-extraction, quality assessment and narrative synthesis. The most common methodologies used were found to be: in-person paradigms, games, informant reports, and self-reports. Reliability and validity efforts were inconsistent. It is hoped these findings will act as a benchmark for development of future research in the area. Outcomes were found to be much more positive about Autistic children's engagement in prosocial behaviour than diagnostic criteria and historical theory suggests, with Autistic children often engaging in prosocial behaviour to the same frequency as comparison groups despite unfamiliar and neurotypical targets. Narrative synthesis revealed moderating variables and differing patterns and styles of Autistic children's prosocial behaviour. Findings encourage Autistic strengths-based approaches and caution is expressed regarding findings possibly linked to Autistic masking. • Autistic children's prosocial behaviour measured mostly by in-person paradigms. • Autistic children often engaged in same prosocial behaviours as comparison groups. • Autistic children more likely to be prosocial if measured via gaming format. • Autistic children employed different strategies during some prosocial behaviours. • Lack of validity regarding prosocial behaviours measured raising concern of masking. • Evidence for strengths-based approach in Autism assessment and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]