Development of social categories and stereotypes in early childhood: The case of “The Arab” concept formation, stereotype and attitudes by Jewish children in Israel

Abstract

Stereotypes, which are based on the categorization process, are learned. Children first acquire a category of a social group and subsequently attribute characteristics to the group (i.e., form a stereotype). This paper illuminates the development of stereotypes among young children on the basis of cognitive theories of conceptual development. Specifically, several studies investigating the concept formation of "the Arab" among Jewish children in Israel are reported. These studies concern the five following research questions: When do children acquire the concept "an Arab"? On what basis do children form the concept "an Arab"? How do children understand the concept "an Arab"? What is the affective meaning of the concept "an Arab"? What is the visual image of "an Arab" in the minds of children? The results of the reported studies show that children acquire the word and the concept "an Arab" very early. From the beginning, even though little knowledge is associated with the concept, it has negative connotations. Young children described Arabs mostly by referring to violent and aggressive behaviors, and the characterization was unidimensional. These results demonstrate the strength of the Israeli cultural stereotype of Arabs and its influence on young children on the one hand, and show the general principles of category and stereotype development, on the other.