Maladaptive but malleable: Gender-science stereotypes emerge early but are modifiable by language.

Gender-science stereotypes emerge early in childhood, but little is known about the developmental processes by which they arise. The present study tested the hypothesis that language implying scientists are a special and distinct kind of person contributes to the development of gender-science stereotypes, even when it does not communicate stereotypic content. One cross-sectional and two longitudinal studies with racially and geographically diverse children (primarily from the United States; ages 4-5; N = 872, tested 2020-2022) revealed that gender stereotypes about science versus art (a) emerge before elementary school, (b) arise from commonplace identity-emphasizing language, especially among girls, and (c) can be durably disrupted by subtle changes to language.

Effortful control is associated with ethnic minority children's pro-wealth biases and explanations across social domains.

Children's tendency to prefer rich to poor people and to view wealthy individuals more positively has been well-documented, but little is known about (a) the mechanisms underlying this "pro-wealth" bias and (b) the extent to which it holds across various social domains (e.g., friendships vs.

Being from a highly resourced context predicts believing that others are highly resourced: An early developing worldview that stymies resource sharing.

We tested whether children's and adults' resource levels predicted their beliefs about resources (Study 1) and whether those beliefs shaped their willingness to share their resources with others (Study 2). In Study 1, we found that among adults (n = 230, 59.1% female, 72.

How children's media and teachers communicate exclusive and essentialist views of science and scientists.

Language that uses noun labels and generic descriptions to discuss people who do science (e.g., "Let's be scientists! Scientists discover new things") signals to children that "scientists" is a distinctive category.