Racial attitude development in black, white and coloured South African children

• Main Author: Aarons, Sallyanne
• Other Authors: Bokhorst, Frank
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2015
• Subjects: Race awareness in children - South Africa
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14328

Includes bibliography. === This study described the racial attitude development of South African primary school children in three racial groups. The sample consisted of black, white and coloured children from the Cape Town area. The study aimed to examine developmental patterns of own-group preference and out-group prejudice, as well as the efficacy of the Katz- Zalk Projective Prejudice Test (Katz and Zalk, 1976) in the South African context. Children of both sexes were included. Five age-groups were represented; 6 - 7 year olds, 7 - 8 year olds, 9 - 10 year olds, 10 - 11 year olds and 11 - 12 year olds. The instrument, (Katz-Zalk Projective Prejudice Test, Katz and Zalk, 1976) included slides showing black and white children in ambiguous school situations, and a corresponding questionnaire in which the subject indicated which child was the recipient or initiator of the action depicted in the slides. The test was administered to groups of approximately 30 children by a female test administrator of the same race as the subjects. The results from 416 subjects were analysed using a multivariate analysis of variance followed by univariate analyses of variance and Student Newman- Keuls follow up tests. These findings indicated the developmental pattern of own- group preference and out-group prejudice in the sample. Results from the white group showed a distinct trend, characterised by high own-group preference and high out- group prejudice. Both the preference and prejudice declined with age.