Influence of regional perceptions on children’s social inclusion judgments

The present study examined the effects of children’s perceptions about the members of different geographical regions of Turkey on their social inclusion judgments. They evaluated vignettes including protagonists coming from eastern and western regions of Turkey, which are namely easterners vs. westerners. Children demonstrated established perceptions on the disadvantaged social standing of easterners and advantaged one for westerners, as shown by the preliminary study. In the main study, 150 children (75 10-year-olds, M = 10 years, SD = 4.17; 75 13-year-olds, 13.06 years, SD = 0.31) were asked to decide whom to include, either an easterner or a westerner, into a reading group and justify their decisions. According to the results, while participants chose socially advantaged child in the equal qualifications condition more frequently, they chose disadvantaged children for the unequal qualifications. For justifications, 13-year-olds made more stereotyping and moral justifications, whereas 10-year-olds made more psychological justifications in the equal qualifications condition. This study was the first attempt to infer the socially disadvantaged standing of easterners in Turkey and its effect as a criterion for inclusion.