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Previous studies have indicated a strong link between lay theories and the development of prejudice. The purpose of this article is to review past studies that have examined the relation between a specific lay theory (mindset) and the development of prejudice, as well as highlight areas for future research that will contribute to our theoretical understanding of mindsets (and their relation to prejudice). Specifically, we highlight the need for future studies to examine mindsets from the target's perspective, to explore how contextual cues may influence the development of mindsets over time, and to observe how mindsets motivate collective action among majority group members. Future studies focused on these areas will deepen the field's theoretical understanding of the impact of mindsets on the development of prejudice. Such knowledge, in turn, can inform the construction of future mindset interventions that foster sustainable and concrete improvements in interracial relations and ultimately promote racial equity.

Social and policy interventions over the last half‐century have achieved laudable reductions in blatant discrimination. Yet members of devalued social groups continue to face subtle discrimination. In this article, we argue that decades of antidiscrimination interventions have failed to eliminate intergroup bias because such bias is contagious. We present a model of bias contagion in which intergroup bias is subtly communicated through nonverbal behavior. Exposure to such nonverbal bias "infects" observers with intergroup bias. The model we present details two means by which nonverbal bias can be expressed—either as a veridical index of intergroup bias or as a symptom of worry about appearing biased. Exposure to this nonverbal bias can increase perceivers' own intergroup biases through processes of implicit learning, informational influence, and normative influence. We identify critical moderators that may interfere with these processes and consequently propose several social and educational interventions based on these moderators.

AbstractWe know that early experience plays a crucial role in the development of face processing, but we know little about how infants learn to distinguish faces from different races, especially for non‐Caucasian populations. Moreover, it is unknown whether differential processing of different race faces observed in typically studied monoracial infants extends to biracial infants as well. Thus, we investigated 3‐month‐old Caucasian, Asian and biracial (Caucasian‐Asian) infants' ability to distinguish Caucasian and Asian faces. Infants completed two within‐subject, infant‐controlled habituation sequences and test trials as an eye tracker recorded looking times and scanning patterns. Examination of individual differences revealed significant positive correlations between own‐race novelty preference and scanning frequency between eye and mouth regions of own‐race habituation stimuli for Caucasian and Asian infants, suggesting that facility in own‐race face discrimination stems from active inspection of internal facial features in these groups. Biracial infants, however, showed the opposite effect: An 'own‐race' novelty preference was associated with reduced scanning between eye and mouth regions of 'own‐race' habituation stimuli, suggesting that biracial infants use a distinct approach to processing frequently encountered faces. Future directions for investigating face processing development in biracial populations are discussed.A video abstract of this article can be viewed at http://youtu.be/a_dDXfFuEfY

AbstractChildren begin interacting less across racial lines around middle childhood, but it remains unclear why. We examine the novel possibility that, at that time, children's prejudice theories—their understanding of prejudice as a fixed or malleable attribute—begin to influence their desire for interracial affiliation. We devise immersive behavioral experiences to evaluate when and how prejudice theories affect interracial affiliation. Study 1 measured prejudice theories among 8–13‐year‐olds (N = 152; 76 White, 76 racial minority) and observed children in a newly‐developed social interaction task. In line with our hypothesis, children older than 10 years with stronger malleable‐prejudice theories exhibited more interest and affiliation in a simulated cross‐ (vs. same‐race) interaction, regardless of their preexisting prejudice level. Study 2 randomly assigned children to listen to a fixed‐ or malleable‐prejudice theory story before engaging in a real, first‐time interaction with a same‐ or cross‐race partner at a different school via live video‐stream (N = 150; 96 White, 54 racial minority). The malleable theory increased children's interest in further interaction with their cross‐race partner. These findings highlight the promise of malleable‐prejudice theories for sustaining positive interracial relationships during a critical developmental window—when the frequency of cross‐race friendships typically declines.