Interrace Interactions

The Effects of Group Project Dynamics on Interrace Interactions in Princeton Elementary Students

Ananya Joshi and Ariella Cohen

Princeton University

Introduction Princeton Department of Human Services (PDHS) has become aware of tensions between Princeton’s Black and Latino communities (Neira, 2016). In response, PDHS is investigating how different racial groups interact, specifically attempting to reduce the observed tensions between Princeton’s Latino and Black communities (Neira, 2016).

PDHS has several youth development programs, but none about elementary students’ perceptions of other racial groups (Human Services, 2016). This motivates our intervention, which studies Princeton elementary students’ perceptions of students of different races. This will help PDHS understand first, how elementary students interact with racially different peers, second, if the tension between Black and Latino adults is mirrored in children, and finally if a collaborative intervention increases positive interactions between students of different races.

This intervention is a collaborative project, similar to Aronson’s Jigsaw classroom (et a.l, 1979). We study if this intervention can be used to improve interactions between children of different races

Our target audience is 3-5th grade students. Vezali studied this age group for his successful work on intergroup contact (2015). Further, children 9-10 years old will challenge inequality norms more than 13-14 year olds (Mulvey, 2014). This is useful for our treatment as our intervention is to challenge norms. We would also like to strengthen a superordinate identity of the students, in this case, as children of Princeton, over race identities. Guerra et. al shows that making the superordinate identity salient reduces bias towards racially outgroup members in schools, with effects lasting for 3 weeks afterwards (Guerra et al.