Young children more likely to play with other children of the same ethnicity, study claims

Researchers from Concordia University and the University of Montreal in Quebec observed Asian-Canadian and French-Canadian children from six nurseries. They found that the children preferred to interact with peers from their own ethnic group, and when put with children of a different ethnicity they often chose to play alone.

The children also adapted their behaviours when speaking with their peers of a different ethnic group.

The French-Canadian children used longer sentences when interacting with children of the same ethnicity, but decreased their verbal interactions when they played with peers of Asian-Canadian descent.

Dale Stack, professor of Psychology at Concordia University, said, ‘Children of both groups adapted their behaviours by speaking less in the case of French-Canadian children and by speaking more in the case of Asian-Canadian children.’

The study, which builds on previous research, also revealed that children of different ethnicities influenced conflict among their peers of the same background. This was most common with the Asian-Canadian children, who were most competitive and frequently took toys from each other.

Ethnic differences during social interactions of preschoolers in same-ethnic and cross-ethnic dyads is published in the European Journal of Developmental Psychology.