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The present study examined age-related differences in bystander reactions within the context of peer exclusion of national ingroup (British) and immigrant outgroup (Australian or Turkish) peers. The immigrant peers were from nations that varied in terms of their perceived intergroup status in Britain. Participants were British children ( n = 110, 8–11 years) and adolescents ( n = 193, 13–16 years) who were presented with one of three scenarios in which a British national, Australian immigrant, or Turkish immigrant peer was excluded by a British peer group. Participants indicated their bystander responses. Perceived similarity and bystander self-efficacy were examined as possible correlates of bystander reactions. Findings revealed that children were more likely to directly challenge the social exclusion when the excluded peer was British or Australian compared with when they were Turkish. In contrast, adolescents did not differentiate in their response—they were equally likely to directly challenge the exclusion regardless of the excluded peer’s nationality. Importantly, when the excluded peer was Turkish, moderated mediation analysis showed that, with age, there was higher bystander self-efficacy for challenging the exclusions. In turn, higher bystander self-efficacy was related to higher direct challenging. These novel findings demonstrate the importance of intergroup relations, perceived similarity, and bystander self-efficacy in the emergence of age-related differences in bystander reactions to the exclusion of immigrant peers.

Humans care for the well-being of some animals (e.g., dogs) yet tacitly endorse the maltreatment of others (e.g., pigs). What treatment is deemed morally appropriate for an animal can depend on whether the animal is characterized as “food.” When such categorization of animals emerges and when a moral hierarchy of beings depending on their species membership (speciesism) develops is poorly understood. We investigate this development across samples of children (9–11 years old), young adults (18–21 years old), and adults (29–59 years old; total N = 479). Compared with young adults and adults, children (a) show less speciesism, (b) are less likely to categorize farm animals as food than pets, (c) think farm animals ought to be treated better, and (d) deem eating meat and animal products to be less morally acceptable. These findings imply that there are key age-related differences in our moral view of an animal worth that point to socially constructed development over the lifespan.

Little research has examined the associations between perceived inclusivity within informal science learning sites, youth program belonging and perceptions of program career preparation. This study explored relations between these factors at three timepoints (T1 = start of program, T2 = 3 months and T3 = 12 months after start). Participants were a diverse sample of 209 adolescents participating in STEM youth programs within informal science learning sites situated in the United States and United Kingdom (70% females: Mage = 15.27, SDage = 1.60), with 53.1% British and 64.1% non-White. Path analysis revealed that only perceptions of inclusivity for own social identity group (i.e., gender, ethnicity) at T1 were associated with T2 STEM youth program belonging. There was a significant indirect effect of T1 perceptions of inclusivity for one’s own social identity groups on T3 perceptions of program career preparation via T2 program belonging. This study highlights that, over time, perceptions of inclusivity around youth’s own social identity groups (i.e., gender and ethnicity/culture) are related to a sense of youth program belonging, which in turn is later associated with perceptions of program career preparation.

Gender stereotypes are harmful for girls’ enrollment and performance in science and mathematics. So far, less is known about children’s and adolescents’ stereotypes regarding technology and engineering. In the current study, participants’ (N = 1,206, girls n = 623; 5–17-years-old, M = 8.63, SD = 2.81) gender stereotypes for each of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) domains were assessed along with the relation between these stereotypes and a peer selection task in a STEM context. Participants reported beliefs that boys are usually more skilled than are girls in the domains of engineering and technology; however, participants did not report gender differences in ability/performance in science and mathematics. Responses to the stereotype measures in favor of one’s in-group were greater for younger participants than older participants for both boys and girls. Perceptions that boys are usually better than girls at science were related to a greater likelihood of selecting a boy for help with a science question. These findings document the importance of domain specificity, even within STEM, in attempts to measure and challenge gender stereotypes in childhood and adolescence.

Adolescence represents a developmental period of waning academic motivation, particularly in STEM domains. To combat this, better understanding the factors that might foster STEM motivation and interest is of importance. Social factors like social competencies and feelings of belonging become increasingly important in adolescence. The current study investigated structural relations between social competencies, feelings of belonging to an informal STEM learning program, math and science efficacy and interest in a sample of 268 adolescents (Mage = 15.25; 66.8% girls; 42.5% White British or European American, 25.7% South Asian British or Asian American, 15.7% Afro-Caribbean Black British or African American 5.6% Bi-racial, and 3.0% other). Adolescents were recruited from six different informal learning sites (e.g., science museums, zoos, or aquariums) in the United States (n = 147) and the United Kingdom (n = 121). The results revealed positive relations between social competencies and belonging, and between belonging and math and science efficacy and interest. Further, the results also indicated a positive indirect effect of social competencies on efficacy and interest, via belonging. These findings have implications for guiding informal STEM programming in ways that can enhance STEM motivation and interest.

Developmental science research often involves research questions developed by academic teams, which are tested within community or educational settings. In this piece, we outline the importance of research–practice partnerships, which involve both research and practice‐based partners collaborating at each stage of the research process. We articulate challenges and benefits of these partnerships for developmental science research, identify relevant research frameworks that may inform these partnerships, and provide an example of an ongoing research–practice partnership.

Coordinating complex social and moral concerns when allocating resources is a key issue in late childhood and early adolescence. This study explored resource allocation in three goal contexts that required children to focus to differing degrees on moral and group concerns. Children (9-11-years, Mage = 9.84, n = 190) and adolescents (14-16-years, Mage = 14.92, n = 154) were informed their school peer group held an in-group norm (competition, cooperation). Participants allocated resources between their in-group and an outgroup within one of three goal contexts (prosocial, learning-focused, and group-focused). Participants allocated in favour of their in-group to achieve a prosocial goal but attenuated this when the goal was focused on learning and cooperation. Adolescents, more than children, reasoned about the goals of resource allocation to justify their decisions. From 9 years old, children begin to coordinate peer group norms and goal information when deciding how to allocate resources within intergroup contexts.

The present study examined how peer group norms influence children's evaluations of deviant ingroup members. Following the manipulation of competitive or cooperative norms, participants (children, Mage = 8.69; adolescents, Mage = 13.81; adults, Mage = 20.89; n = 263) evaluated deviant ingroup members from their own and the group's perspective. Children rated cooperative deviancy positively and believed their group would do the same. Adolescents and adults believed that their group would negatively evaluate cooperative deviancy when their group supported a competitive allocation strategy. Reasoning varied based on norm and participants’ agreement with deviancy. Understanding an ingroup may not be favorable toward a cooperative deviant in a competitive context is a developmental challenge requiring the coordination of social and moral norms.

Children's and adolescents' resource allocation was examined in a context of inequality between schools and a peer group norm of either equality or equity. Participants (N = 257; children, 7-11 years old and adolescents, 13-16 years old) were inducted into groups with either a lot (advantaged) or few (disadvantaged) art resources, in the context of an art competition. Participants were prescribed an equality (equal distribution) or equity (more resources for disadvantaged groups) norm, before allocating resources between groups. Adolescents, but not children, allocated significantly more resources to their disadvantaged in-group than they did to a disadvantaged out-group, particularly when prescribed an in-group norm of equity. Participants who rectified the inequality referred to the unfair nature of the initial disparity. The findings revealed an important developmental shift between middle childhood and early adolescence regarding the influence of group status and norms on intergroup resource allocation in a competitive context. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Children have the capacity to challenge intergroup resource allocation inequalities. Peer group norms can guide resource allocation in situations where inequality is not made salient. What does this study add? A peer group equity norm can guide adolescents to rectify an intergroup inequality. Relative peer group advantage plays an increasingly important role in adolescence. For children, maintaining equality can supersede adherence to a peer group norm.

The present study examined the interactive effects of school norms, peer norms, and accountability on children's intergroup attitudes. Participants (n = 229) aged 5-11 years, in a between-subjects design, were randomly assigned to a peer group with an inclusion or exclusion norm, learned their school either had an inclusion norm or not, and were accountable to either their peer group, teachers, or nobody. Findings indicated, irrespective of age, that an inclusive school norm was less effective when the peer group had an exclusive norm and children were held accountable to their peers or teachers. These findings support social identity development theory (D. Nesdale, 2004, 2007), which expects both the in-group peer and school norm to influence children's intergroup attitudes.

Cooperation is a fundamental drive of moral behavior from infancy, yet competitive intergroup contexts can exert a significant influence on resource allocation behavior in childhood. The present study explored how ingroup and outgroup norms of competition and cooperation influenced the allocation of resources between groups among children and adolescents, along with how they reasoned about these allocations. Ingroup norms combined, for the first time, with outgroup norms were manipulated to examine their effect on the development of intergroup resource allocation. Participants aged 8 to 16 years (n = 229) were told that their ingroup and the outgroup held either a competitive or cooperative norm about how they should behave in an arts competition. They then allocated tokens for expenditure in the competition between the 2 teams, and provided social reasoning to justify their chosen allocations. Results showed a negative outgroup norm of competition led to significantly more ingroup bias when the ingroup also held a competitive rather than a cooperative norm. In contrast, a positive outgroup norm of cooperation did not result in significantly less ingroup bias when the ingroup also held a cooperative norm. Additionally, adolescents, unlike children who allocated equally were more likely to make reference to fair competition, a form of moral reasoning, in the competitive compared with the cooperative ingroup norm condition. This study showed that children and adolescents considered both ingroup and outgroup norms simultaneously when making intergroup resource allocations, but that only adolescents varied their reasoning to justify these allocation in line with group norms. (PsycINFO Database Record