Someone Who Knows and Someone I Trust: Investigating How and with Whom U.S. 8- to 14-Year-Old Youth Seek to Learn about Racial Inequality

This study investigated 8- to 14-year-old U.S. children's (N = 202, 47% girls, and 49% White) evaluations of statements reflecting individual and structural attributions for the causes of racial inequality between Black and White people in the United States, the epistemic characteristics they used to seek out more information on this topic, and who they believed reflected these characteristics. With age, participants increasingly endorsed statements reflecting structural attributions for racial inequality (i.e., educational and occupational exclusion), and increasingly reasoned about privilege and racism. In contrast, participants did not endorse statements reflecting individual attributions at any age (i.e., group differences in intelligence and effort), instead reasoning about equality between racial groups. Overall, participants sought expertise (i.e., content knowledge) and interpersonal trust (i.e., closeness and support) in a scenario where they could choose a discussion partner to learn more about racial inequality, and were most likely to seek out their family members, though some also sought out their friends, teachers, and the internet or social media. This study provides insights into who children see as relevant sources for learning about racial inequality and their reasons for trusting them.