The effect of character similarity on children's learning from fictional stories: The roles of race and gender

J Exp Child Psychol. 2022 Feb:214:105310. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105310. Epub 2021 Oct 29.

Abstract

Factors that make stories more or less similar to children's lives may influence learning. One such factor, the similarity of characters in a story to its readers, may influence learning because of children's social preference for similar others, because of stronger identification with similar characters, or because some types of similarity may indicate to children whether the story is relevant to their lives. The current studies examined the effects of two types of character similarity (race and gender) on 6- to 8-year-olds' learning from stories to begin to disambiguate these possibilities. In Study 1, White children demonstrated greater learning on implicit measures (i.e., free recall) from a story with a White character versus a Black character. Although children said that they were more similar to and identified more strongly with a White character than a Black character, these factors did not predict learning. In Study 2, character gender did not influence learning or identification. Children showed preferences for own-race and own-gender playmates, but these preferences did not predict learning. These findings suggest that White children's greater learning from the White character was not due to social preference for similar others or to stronger identification with the White character. One explanation for the divergent findings for race and gender is that, because of the differing roles of race and gender within U.S. society, children may use race but not gender as a cue as to whether the information provided in a story is relevant for them.

Keywords: Character; Fiction; Gender; Narrative; Race; Story.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Gender Identity*
  • Humans
  • Mental Recall*