Susan A. Gelman
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View article: Who gets sicker and why? Parents’ perceptions of COVID-19 disparities and how they would explain them to their children
Who gets sicker and why? Parents’ perceptions of COVID-19 disparities and how they would explain them to their children Open
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed substantial health disparities, disproportionately impacting Black individuals, individuals of lower socioeconomic status, and older adults in the US. Little is known as to whether and how adults discuss thes…
View article: The Role of Dialect, Gender, and Race in Children’s Friendship Choices: Evidence from Mexican Monolinguals and Mexican-American Bilinguals
The Role of Dialect, Gender, and Race in Children’s Friendship Choices: Evidence from Mexican Monolinguals and Mexican-American Bilinguals Open
This work investigated whether Mexican-American bilingual children and Mexican monolingual children (ages 4-6; N = 245) use Spanish varieties (Puerto Rican vs. Mexican) when making friendship judgments for themselves (1st person) and/or fo…
View article: Research With the Reluctant: Challenges and Strategies
Research With the Reluctant: Challenges and Strategies Open
Although psychological research often relies on convenience samples, the most informative participants may be individuals who are reluctant to engage because of vulnerability, mistrust of the research process, and/or disagreement with a st…
View article: Discovering the world of viruses: Testing the influence of anthropomorphic representations on children’s learning about COVID-19.
Discovering the world of viruses: Testing the influence of anthropomorphic representations on children’s learning about COVID-19. Open
Having a robust understanding of viruses is critical for children to understand the COVID-19 pandemic and the protective measures recommended to promote their safety. However, viral transmission is not part of current educational standards…
View article: Children’s Understanding of Digital Tracking and Digital Privacy
Children’s Understanding of Digital Tracking and Digital Privacy Open
Digital technologies provide both interpersonal and institutional risks for users, and children are particularly vulnerable, given their limited understanding of these risks. This chapter reviews the current state of literature on children…
View article: How peer relationships influence adolescents’ reasoning about theft-based moral transgressions.
How peer relationships influence adolescents’ reasoning about theft-based moral transgressions. Open
Two studies (Ntotal = 1,153) investigated how adolescents reason about whether to report a transgression committed by a close friend versus distant classmate. In Study 1, sixth-ninth graders (Mage = 12.36 years, SDage = 1.14 years; 55% gir…
View article: Developing Concepts of Authenticity: Insights From Parents’ and Children's Conversations About Historical Significance
Developing Concepts of Authenticity: Insights From Parents’ and Children's Conversations About Historical Significance Open
The present study investigated children's understanding that an object's history may increase its significance, an appreciation that underpins the concept of historical authenticity (i.e., the idea that an item's history determines its tru…
View article: Discovering the world of viruses: Testing the influence of anthropomorphic representations on children’s learning about COVID
Discovering the world of viruses: Testing the influence of anthropomorphic representations on children’s learning about COVID Open
Having a robust understanding of viruses is critical for children to understand the COVID-19 pandemic and the protective measures recommended to promote their safety. However, viral transmission is not part of current educational standards…
View article: Transformative tales: The role of story videos on children's reasoning about transgender identities
Transformative tales: The role of story videos on children's reasoning about transgender identities Open
The current study explored whether positive contact through stories could influence how young children think about transgender identities and gender in general. A total of 174 children ages 5–6 and 9–10 were randomly assigned to one of thr…
View article: Children's gender essentialism and prejudice: Testing causal links via an experimental manipulation
Children's gender essentialism and prejudice: Testing causal links via an experimental manipulation Open
Despite increases in visibility, gender‐nonconforming young people continue to be at risk for bullying and discrimination. Prior work has established that gender essentialism in children correlates with prejudice against people who do not …
View article: The social aspects of illness: Children's and parents' explanations of the relation between social categories and illness in a predominantly white U.S. sample
The social aspects of illness: Children's and parents' explanations of the relation between social categories and illness in a predominantly white U.S. sample Open
The COVID‐19 pandemic in the United States has had a disproportionate impact on Black, low‐income, and elderly individuals. We recruited 175 predominantly white children ages 5–12 and their parents ( N = 112) and asked which of two individ…
View article: The social aspects of illness: Children’s and parents’ explanations of the relation between social categories and illness in a predominantly white U.S. sample
The social aspects of illness: Children’s and parents’ explanations of the relation between social categories and illness in a predominantly white U.S. sample Open
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has had a disproportionate impact on Black, low-income, and elderly individuals. We recruited 175 predominantly white children ages 5-12 and their parents (N=112) and asked which of two individual…
View article: Children’s biological causal models of disability
Children’s biological causal models of disability Open
The term "disability" encompasses many conditions (including a range of learning, intellectual, physical, sensory and socioemotional disorders) that can be caused by a variety of genetic, environmental, and unknown factors. We examine how …
View article: Generically partisan: Polarization in political communication
Generically partisan: Polarization in political communication Open
American political parties continue to grow more polarized, but the extent of ideological polarization among the public is much less than the extent of perceived polarization (what the ideological gap is believed to be). Perceived polariza…
View article: Gender essentialism predicts prejudice against gender nonconformity in two cultural contexts
Gender essentialism predicts prejudice against gender nonconformity in two cultural contexts Open
Gender‐nonconforming children face a substantial amount of prejudice, making it important to investigate potential contributing factors. In a correlational study of 253 U.S. Midwestern and Pacific Northwestern 6‐ to 10‐year‐old gender‐conf…
View article: Preliminary evidence for progressions in ownership reasoning over the preschool period.
Preliminary evidence for progressions in ownership reasoning over the preschool period. Open
Defining developmental progressions can be an important step in identifying developmental precursors and mechanisms of change, within and across areas of reasoning. In one exploratory study, we examine whether the development of children's…
View article: Introduction
Introduction Open
This review summarizes recent findings (2000–2020) concerning media's contributions to the development of gender stereotypes in children and adolescents. Content analyses document that there continues to be an underrepresentation of women …
View article: Generic Language for Social and Animal Kinds: An Examination of the Asymmetry Between Acceptance and Inferences
Generic Language for Social and Animal Kinds: An Examination of the Asymmetry Between Acceptance and Inferences Open
Generics (e.g., “Ravens are black”) express generalizations about categories or their members. Previous research found that generics about animals are interpreted as broadly true of members of a kind, yet also accepted based on minimal evi…
View article: The development of digital ownership in children
The development of digital ownership in children Open
The current study examined whether, for children and adults, behaviors that are considered violations of property rights in the case of physical property are likewise viewed as violations in the case of digital property. In this pre-regist…
View article: Scientific and Folk Theories of Viral Transmission: A Comparison of COVID-19 and the Common Cold
Scientific and Folk Theories of Viral Transmission: A Comparison of COVID-19 and the Common Cold Open
Disease transmission is a fruitful domain in which to examine how scientific and folk theories interrelate, given laypeople’s access to multiple sources of information to explain events of personal significance. The current paper reports a…
View article: Genetic essentialist beliefs about criminality predict harshness of recommended punishment.
Genetic essentialist beliefs about criminality predict harshness of recommended punishment. Open
Genetic essentialism is a set of beliefs holding that certain categories have a heritable, intrinsic, and biological basis. The current studies explore people's genetic essentialist beliefs about criminality, how such essentialism relates …
View article: Children expect others to prefer handmade items
Children expect others to prefer handmade items Open
Although children frequently engage in creative activities (in which they make foods and objects by hand), the development and scope of children’s thinking about handmade items is largely unexplored. In the present studies, we examined whe…
View article: Children expect others to prefer handmade items.
Children expect others to prefer handmade items. Open
Although children frequently engage in creative activities (in which they make foods and objects by hand), the development and scope of children's thinking about handmade items is largely unexplored. In the present studies, we examined whe…
View article: What “you” and “we” say about me: How small shifts in language reveal and empower fundamental shifts in perspective
What “you” and “we” say about me: How small shifts in language reveal and empower fundamental shifts in perspective Open
One of the most fundamental, yet often overlooked, components of language is the personal pronoun system. Pronouns reveal and empower different perspectives, providing insight into and even altering how a person is conceptualizing the self…