The case of common humanity: Towards a deeper understanding of children’s social ideas

ABSTRACT

Developmental research has long sought to understand children’s social ideas, and particularly how those ideas influence their judgments and behaviors toward other people. We examine the idea of common humanity, a social idea that has been investigated historically and philosophically, to re-consider what is already known about children’s notions of social equality and difference and to suggest how research in this area might be expanded. We review the social cognition literature to argue that studying the idea of common humanity—which combines abstract notions of universal equality with explicit attention to social group differences—could substantially advance our understanding of children’s social-cognitive frameworks. We then discuss a subset of the literature related to children’s prejudice and describe how the study of common humanity could shed light on the mechanisms behind interventions that successfully reduce prejudice.

KEYWORDS:

• Child development
• moral development
• perspective-taking
• prejudice
• social cognition

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anna L. Kirby

Anna L. Kirby is a Ph.D. student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research focuses on how children learn to navigate the social world and how diverse perspectives on social development can inform effective and empowering educational programming.

Paul L. Harris

Paul L. Harris is a developmental psychologist with interests in the development of cognition, emotion and imagination. He was Professor of Developmental Psychology at Oxford University. In 2001, he moved to Harvard University where he is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Education. His latest book is: ‘Trusting what you’re told: How children learn from others’ (Harvard University Press, 2012).