Research published in the BPS British Journal of Developmental Psychology this month discovered that white children perceive black youngsters as less likely to feel pain.

The team, from the University of Virginia, carried out tests on a sample of mostly white American children at ages five, seven and ten. Each participant was asked to rate the severity of the pain they thought would be felt by children in different pictorial scenarios, for example shutting their hand in a door or bumping their head.

When they were shown photos of black children, the seven and ten-year-olds rated the level of pain as less severe than that being sustained by the white youngsters.

There was no evidence of this in the five-year-olds, suggesting racial bias arises and strengthens in early to late childhood.

Lead author  Rebecca Dore said the study could help to inform the timing of interventions designed to prevent racism.

"Talking to children about racial issues early may be important for preventing the development of biases that could have consequences in adulthood," she added.

Full journal title: 'Children's racial bias in perceptions of others' pain'

Author's: Rebecca A. Dore, Kelly M. Hoffman, Angeline S. Lillard and Sophie Trawalter.

The Society publishes 11 academic journal titles in conjunction with our publishing partner Wiley-Blackwell. The British Journal of Developmental Psychology publishes full-length, empirical, conceptual, review and discussion papers, as well as brief reports, in all aspects of Developmental Psychology. Visit the Wiley online library for more information.

Society members can access via PsychSource, our searchable journals, books and multimedia database, developed in partnership with Wiley-Blackwell. Abstracts are free to all, full-text free to members.

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