Observational studies undercount children’s prejudice because attitudes need triggering situations.

Evidence

Allport referred mostly to observational studies recording children’s words and behavior. However, the conclusions one can draw from this design are limited. Attitudes are not generally expressed unless triggered by the situation, so the number of spontaneous expressions does not reveal the prevalence or intensity of prejudice in children. Subsequent research used structured measures of prejudice along with cross-sectional and longitudinal designs to pin down the prevalence and development of prejudice. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1991

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the vault’s contact-theory reassessment: situational triggering of attitudes is a core methodological limit of observational work that also bears on adult contact studies.