Evaluation of an intervention using cross-race friend storybooks to reduce prejudice among majority race young children

We tested a cross-race friendship picture book intervention under two conditions that aimed to facilitate the reduction of racial prejudice that children of two age groups ascribe to adults reading the book (communicators) and their own prejudice. White majority children, 113 kindergarteners (M = 5.97 years) and 103 second graders (M = 7.93 years) were randomly assigned to an ingroup (White) or outgroup (Black) communicator and skill training. They were pretested on racial attitudes they ascribed to their photographed communicator and then trained in reconciliation or classification. They heard four cross-race friend stories; then were retested on communicator attitudes, own attitudes and cognitive elaboration. Results indicated only second graders, and those able to reconcile differences in perspectives, predicted on the basis of their photo alone that outgroup communicators would hold positive attitudes toward Blacks. After communicators read the stories and explicitly stated their antibias attitude, reports changed among second graders who now rated both communicators as holding more positive Black attitudes. Second graders also held more positive Black attitudes themselves. Kindergarteners consistently assumed both ingroup and outgroup communicators were pro-White. Children elaborated more about the Black story characters when read to by an outgroup (Black) communicator. In conclusion, cross-race friend storybooks are a promising way to expose children to other racial groups and to antibias attitudes, under certain conditions.