Research Overview

Professor Elenbaas will be accepting applications for graduate students for the 2020-21 academic year.

Dr. Laura Elenbaas investigates social cognition, intergroup attitudes, and morality in childhood and adolescence. Her research examines developing conceptions of fairness, perceptions of social groups, and peer relations, in three main areas:

1. Children's perceptions of social and economic inequality. This line of work investigates children's awareness of inequalities between social groups in society, and how this awareness relates to decisions and reasoning about fair access to resources and opportunities.
2. Norms and status in intergroup contexts. This line of work examines how children's stereotypes about social groups and perceptions of peer group norms impact judgments about peer social exclusion.
3. Developing moral concerns. This line of work investigates the origins of children's reasoning about complex moral issues related to justice, rights, discrimination, and others' welfare.

Across these three areas, Dr. Elenbaas' research examines how social (e.g., group identity), cognitive (e.g., reasoning), and environmental (e.g., school diversity) factors contribute to moral development and intergroup attitudes in children's and adolescents' everyday lives.

Selected Publications

• Elenbaas, L. (in press). Perceptions of economic inequality are related to children's judgments about access to opportunities. Developmental Psychology. doi: 10.1037/dev0000550
• Elenbaas, L., & Killen, M. (2016). Children's perceptions of social resource inequalities. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 48, 49-58. doi: 10.1016/j.appdev.2016.11.006
• Rizzo, M. T., Cooley, S., Elenbaas, L., & Killen, M. (2017). Young children's inclusion decisions in moral and social-conventional group norm contexts. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 165, 19-36. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.05.006
• Cooley S., Elenbaas, L., & Killen, M. (2016). Social exclusion based on group membership is a form of prejudice. In S. Horn, M. Ruck, & L. Liben (Eds.), Advances in child development and behavior, Vol. 51 (pp. 103-129). Burlington: Academic Press. doi: 10/1016/bs.acdb.2016.04.004
• Elenbaas, L., & Killen, M. (2016). Children rectify inequalities for disadvantaged groups. Developmental Psychology, 8, 1318-1329. doi: 10.1017/dev0000154
• Elenbaas, L., & Killen, M. (2016). How do young children expect others to address resource inequalities? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 150, 72-86. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2016.05.002