How Social Factors Affect Children’s Motivation

For 5- to 8-year-olds who understand and speak English

This study will take place on a video call, live with a researcher! Clicking on the “Schedule a time to participate” button will send you to an online calendar where you can select a date and time that works for you. Your child will hear about children in social groups (images of underrepresented minority gender and racial groups and non-underrepresented gender and racial groups in science) and each child’s choice to play a novel activity (either the Rectangle or Triangle activity). However, only one of the groups (the gender and racial groups who are typically represented in science) had access to the Triangle activity. For example, they hear that, "Their schools only have the Rectangle activity, so, they all got used to playing the Rectangle activity." Children will then be asked questions about each group, the activities, and their own motivation to play each activity. Importantly, at the end of the study, we will emphasize both groups' equal potential.

Children’s motivation to play in different activities is shaped by beliefs about what other members of their social groups prefer. This study examines how information about their social groups’ choices and opportunities shape their own motivation to play novel activities. We will examine if children use the information that the underrepresented minority (URM) group did not have access to the Triangle activity as a cue to reason whether the URM group only played the Rectangle activity because of their opportunities vs. their preferences, and if this shapes children’s own motivation to play the activities. This research will help us figure out how information and explanations for inequalities may shape children's motivation for certain activities based on the social groups children belong to.

20 minutes

Participants will be emailed a $5 (US dollars) Amazon.com gift card by the following Monday after finishing the study. To receive the gift card, the child must be between the ages of 5- to 8-years-old, and the child must be visible during the entire session. Children can only participate and receive compensation once.