Laura K Taylor

University College Dublin | UCD · School of Psychology

In a religiously diverse world, understanding how young children perceive and interact with peers from other religious groups is pivotal for promoting harmony from an early age. The study examines how children's understanding of an outgroup religion is associated with their prosocial behaviours towards children from that religion. Conducted with 21...

Growing empirical evidence demonstrates that intergroup contact has the potential to reap effects that go beyond prejudice reduction. Much of this evidence, however, is based on findings from cross-sectional surveys. Building on the relatively smaller body of longitudinal intergroup contact research, we conduct a three-time point survey amongst you...

Intergroup contact has long been established as a prejudice‐reduction tool in divided societies, with contact being particularly effective during adolescence. A large proportion of evidence, however, draws on cross‐sectional surveys or analytical approaches that do not distinguish between‐ and within‐person effects. In the present research, we addr...

Prosocial risk-taking – taking a risk to benefit others – is a relatively unexplored aspect of prosocial behaviour, which may be particularly relevant to inclusion of outgroups, particularly within settings of intergroup conflict. We explored the extent to which participants perceived inclusion of a minority and conflict-relevant outgroup member to...

European identity among youth remains under-studied despite having the potential to promote inclusive benefits. Through a rapid evidence assessment (REA), this paper addresses two aims. First, it synthesises definitions of European identity among children, adolescents and young adults through thematic analysis, and summarises measurements. Second,...

Restorative practice aims to build relationships, prosocial skills, guide behaviour and promote conflict resolution resulting in transformative culture change within schools. Educators are increasingly acknowledging the significance of relational aspects of teaching and learning in schools, with restorative practice emerging as a leading approach....

The effects of political violence are felt across generations; for example, extent of parental competitive victimhood (feeling that one's ingroup was relatively more vic-timised during the conflict) predicts adolescent's intergroup discrimination. We extend that research to children, born a generation after the height of violence. Participants were...

This paper presents the results of cognitive interviews with 8-year-old children from four European countries – Croatia, France, Finland, and Ireland. The aim of the interviews was to pre-test a selection of well-being-related questions as a part of questionnaire development for the first European multinational birth cohort study – Growing up in Di...

Rebuilding society in the wake of conflict often falls on the generation born in peace. Yet, youth contributions to peacebuilding are often overlooked. This article challenges the narrative that sidelines the constructive contributions of young people in conflict‐affected settings. Instead, we identify different kinds of youth peacebuilders. Using...

This study explored how children's perceptions of social group differences relate to attitudes and behaviour towards real‐world outgroups. We examined Arab‐Christian children living in Israel ( N = 231, 52% female, average age 9.8 years) and randomly presented them with either Arab‐Muslim or Jewish outgroup targets. The children performed tasks mea...

The Developing Belief Network is a consortium of researchers studying human development in diverse social-cultural settings, with a focus on the interplay between general cognitive development and culturally specific processes of socialization and cultural transmission in early and middle childhood. The current manuscript describes the study protoc...

Understanding how to promote better social relations between groups in divided societies is vital for peacebuilding efforts. Building on the substantial body of research on intergroup contact theory and everyday multiculturalism, the present research aimed to examine how youth in the divided society of Belfast, Northern Ireland, experience social i...

The Developing Belief Network is a consortium of researchers studying human development in diverse social-cultural settings, with a focus on the interplay between general cognitive development and culturally specific processes of socialization and cultural transmission in early and middle childhood. The current manuscript describes the study protoc...

Given the ingroup bias in children's prosocial behaviors, understanding what characterizes and predicts children's prosocial behaviors directed at outgroups has implications for more harmonious intergroup relations. We conducted a systematic review outlining the important theoretical frameworks that drive research in this area and examined the targ...

Introducción: El objetivo de este artículo fue identificar las variables que mejor predicen las medidas de agresión, empatía y perdón, como también las principales diferencias en contextos vulnerables, hostiles y seguros, en una muestra de niños, niñas y adolescentes pertenecientes a una población vulnerable. Método: se realizó un estudio cuantita...

Perceiving supportive peer norms are associated with more frequent and higher quality intergroup contact across a range of contexts. Youth interactions, however, are influenced by a wide range of socializing agents as well as individuals’ desire to interact. Exploring both socializing agents and individual-level variables, the present research exam...

An overarching, supraordinate identity (e.g., European identity) can enhance intergroup relations if individuals recategorize ingroup and outgroup members into one, unified group. Yet, in conflict-affected societies, ethno-national identities may promote negative intergroup attitudes and behaviours. The effects of European and ethno-national identi...

Bedside teaching (BST) is a method of structured clinical teaching where the patient is central in education. We had previously explored the patients’ perceptions of BST using both a qualitative research study and validation of a questionnaire, both showing strong support by patients for BST once basic rules of respect and confidentiality are follo...

Good practices in piloting large-scale birth cohort studies include a pre-pilot, instrument pilot, and a dress rehearsal. This paper is focused on the pre-piloting of the Europe's first multinational birth cohort study - Growing up in Digital Europe (GUIDE). Pre-pilots are typically performed on small scale, take the form of in-depth interviews, an...

Worldwide, 420 million children are affected by conflict and over half of all children experience violence every year. Thus, youth are unarguably affected by war and settings of persisting societal violence. Despite often being conceptualized as either powerless victims or violent perpetrators, recent advances in research and international policy r...

Intergroup resource allocation was examined among 333 children aged 7-11 (51.9% female) within three settings of former intergroup conflict (January-June 2021). Children represented both ethno-religious minority and majority groups (Republic of North Macedonia: Albanians, Macedonians; Croatia: Serbs, Croats; Northern Ireland: Catholics, Protestants...

We investigate the effect of social media endorsements (likes, retweets, shares) on individuals’ policy preferences. In two pre-registered online experiments ( N = 1,384), we exposed participants to non-neutral policy messages about the COVID-19 pandemic (emphasizing either public health or economic activity as a policy priority) while varying the...

Peace can be built from the ground up. Moreover, peacebuilding is future-orientated and thus calls for a focus on children and youth. This approach involves a need to adapt methods to respond to the needs and abilities of young people, building their agency and capacities. Qualitative, participatory, arts-based methods offer such an approach, allow...

This paper explores how group preferences develop among children living in the post-conflict context of Kosovo and how this development shapes children’s willingness to be close to their outgroup peers among the segregated majority (ethnic Albanian) and minority (ethnic Serb) members. The study was conducted in four ethnically divided primary schoo...

The motherhood penalty reflects inequalities in the workplace based on caregiver status. A number of factors have been identified as potential triggers of motherhood penalty effects, such as becoming pregnant or taking maternity leave. However, little is known as to whether these effects could also be triggered by more subtle cues that may signal p...

Identifying developmental patterns in intergroup contact and its relation with bias is crucial for improving prevention strategies around intergroup relations. This study applied time-varying effects modeling (TVEM) to examine age-based changes in relations between contact and bias in a divided community that included 667 youth ( M age = 15.74, SD...

Religiousness can guide children’s morality and behaviors. To better understand how the growing research on religion relates to child development, and in particular, prosociality, a systematic review was conducted. Three research questions guided the systematic review. First, how are religiousness and children’s prosociality measured? Second, what...

The COVID-19 crisis has had a major impact on youth. This study examined factors associated with youth’s attitudes towards their government’s response to the pandemic and their blaming of individuals from certain risk groups, ethnic backgrounds, and countries or regions. In a sample of 5,682 young adults (Mage = 22) from 14 countries, lower perceiv...

Following the global outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, individuals report psychological distress associated with the “new normal”—social distancing, financial hardships, and increased responsibilities while working from home. Given the interpersonal nature of stress and coping responses between romantic partners, based on the systemic transac�tio...

The European Union (EU) aims to promote peace. This research investigates the saliency of a European identity for children from majority and minority groups in four conflict-affected societies in Europe (Croatia, Kosovo, Northern Ireland (NI), and Republic of North Macedonia (RNM)). These sites represent a range of relations with the EU (e.g., leav...

Background Prosocial behaviour (e.g., comforting, helping, sharing) is associated with important positive life outcomes. Historical and recent theory, evidence and personal accounts within the autism community present a mixed picture regarding Autistic children’s prosocial engagement. This systematic review consolidates, for the first time, how emp...

Emile Bruneau devoted his life to “putting science to work for peace,” and he wished that scientists, practitioners, and civil society would carry on this vision. The aim of this special issue is to document and advance those efforts—where science meets the real world and practice informs inquiry. This special issue brings together over a dozen dif...

Knowledge of symbols, which can be influenced by school ethos, informs identity construction in primary school children. This study aimed to explore Gaelscoil (Irish-medium) and English-medium primary school children’s familiarity with Irish and European symbols. Thirty 9–12-year-old children in Ireland participated in this study; 15 from two Irish...

Identifying how, when, and under what conditions exposure to political conflict is associated with youth mental health problems is critical to developing programming to help youth exposed to various forms of political violence. The current study uses Time Varying Effects Modeling (TVEM) to examine how relations between exposure to ethno-politically...

Exploring children's awareness of social categories could uncover the foundation of intergroup attitudes and behaviours. Indigenous to Ireland, Travellers are an ethnic minority marked by a tradition of nomadism, only formally recognised as a distinct ethnic group in 2017. This brief report analyses data from 148 children aged 6–12 (55% female) in...

Background: Emerging evidence indicates the existence of bidirectional relations between mothers' mental health and adolescent adjustment, but few studies have examined these relations in contexts of high environmental adversity, including economic deprivation and political violence. Given other empirical connections between political violence and...

Background: Bullying has a profound and enduring impact on academic achievement. However, there is a lack of clarity surrounding the specific mechanisms of this relationship. Aims: This study examined the link between bullying at age 9 and Numeracy/Literacy achievement at age 15 to determine if this relationship is partially or fully explained b...

Outgroup perceptions are a fundamental element of social categorization, particularly in contexts of intergroup conflict. Social Identity Development Theory argues that perceived differences between groups is the first step in ethnic identity development. This understanding of social categories among children may have implications for negative inte...

Evidence suggests an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, particularly among emerging adults. However, theories on altruism born of suffering or adversarial growth suggest that we might also see prosocial behavior as a function of the pandemic, which may protect against mental health challenges. Because cultural values are central in d...

Purpose: Over 60% of armed conflicts reoccur; the seed of future conflict is sown even as a peace agreement is signed. The cyclical nature of war calls for a focus on youth who can disrupt this pattern over time. Addressing this concern, the developmental peacebuilding model calls for a dynamic, multilevel and longitudinal approach. Design/methodo...

Background Bedside teaching (BST) facilitates medical education and has reduced in practice, often due to patient-related concerns. This study aimed to validate a questionnaire exploring patients attitudes towards BST. Methods International guidelines for questionnaire development were followed. Seven steps were included: literature review, patien...

Background: The psychological impact of COVID-19 is multifaceted, both acute and chronic, and has not affected everyone equally. Method: This longitudinal study compared those with and without Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on measures of psychological distress and wellbeing. Results: All groups (No ACE, Low ACE, and High ACE) had similar l...

We examined the predictors of outgroup empathy in children growing up in a city devastated during the fall of the Former Yugoslavia. Children (N=155; 76 male, 79 female) from both majority (64.5% Croatian) and minority (35.5% Serbian) ethnic groups, ranging from 6 to 11 years old (M=8.77, SD=1.15) participated. A multiple-group path analysis in Mpl...

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and other social dynamics created a myriad of challenges and changes for individuals, groups, and societies. The impacts on youth are particularly noteworthy given developmental processes of adolescence and emerging adulthood. As psychologists, we have much to offer in studying how 2020 influenced their development an...

Social injustices toward minority groups are pervasive around the world, and further exacerbated by global threats such as COVID-19 and climate change. Prosocial tendencies, such as empathy, moral reasoning, and helping behaviors directed only toward members of one’s own social groups, discriminate against outgroups, and can perpetuate an unjust st...

Following the signing of peace agreements, post-accord societies often remain deeply divided across group lines. There is a need to identify antecedents of youth’s support for peace and establish more constructive intergroup relations. This article explored the effect of out-group trust, intergroup forgiveness and social identity on support for the...

Intrastate conflicts dominate the twenty-first century. Understanding the psychological mechanisms necessary to transform such settings into more peaceful societies is essential. Toward that end, Helping Kids! is a cross-cultural project that focuses on children in conflict-affected contexts. Moving away from the conceptualization of youth as perpe...

Across four sections, this volume weaves together peace processes and practices spanning over 20 countries. Section 1.1 covers diverse countries that have implemented transitional justice mechanisms, such as truth commissions, amnesties, and collective memory, in the construction of a culture of peace. Section 1.2 examines how social movements and...

This article examines the role of empathy for outgroup helping, collective action and political activism among youth in Northern Ireland, a setting of protracted conflict. Integrating the Empathy-Attitudes-Action model with the Developmental Peacebuilding Model, a two-wave study was conducted to assess youth’s behavioural intentions and actual beha...

This chapter applies a developmental approach to understand how intergroup processes shape the emergence of retaliatory motives and behaviours among youth growing up in contexts of protracted intergroup conflict, drawing on research examples from Israel-Palestine, Northern Ireland and Vukovar, Croatia. Across these conflict-affected societies, reas...

Over 420 million children live amid political conflict. In such settings, understanding the development of prosocial behaviours, specifically directed at outgroups, can provide opportunities for peacebuilding. Informed by research on intergroup competition and structural inequality, we focus on outgroup prosocial behaviour targeting conflict rivals...

Following the global outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, individuals report psychological distress associated with the “new normal”—social distancing, financial hardships, and increased responsibilities while working from home. Given the interpersonal nature of stress and coping responses between romantic partners, based on the systemic transaction...

Understanding when children develop a sense of group boundaries has implications for conflict and its resolution. Integrating social identity development theory and the developmental peace-building model, we investigated whether preferences for ethno-religious ingroup symbols mediate the link from child age to outgroup prosocial giving among 5- to...

Background: This protocol outlines procedures for the development and evaluation of a remotely accessible intervention tool known as the ‘Psychology And yoU: Self-Enhancement programme’ (i.e., PAUSE programme). The PAUSE programme aims to support and promote psychological well-being using positive psychological concepts and principles. The programm...

In conflict-affected societies, teachers are critical to supporting positive youth development and encouraging constructive societal contributions. The present research examined the role of perceived teacher support on youth collective efficacy in school and implications for constructive engagement. Recruited through their schools as part of a larg...

Objective The unprecedented occurrence of a global pandemic is accompanied by both physical and psychological burdens that may impair quality of life. Research relating to COVID-19 aims to determine the effects of the pandemic on vulnerable populations who are at high risk of developing negative health or psychosocial outcomes. Having an ongoing me...

The introduction highlights a developmental perspective on children’s and youth prosocial behavior in risky and vulnerable contexts. The six empirical papers published in this Special Section are considered within a multilevel, multidimensional framework and reflect a diversity of methodological approaches. The studies each provide foundational wor...

Objective: The unprecedented occurrence of a global pandemic is accompanied by both physical and psychological burdens that may impair quality of life. Research relating to COVID-19 aims to determine the effects of the pandemic on vulnerable populations who are at high risk of developing negative health or psychosocial outcomes. Having an ongoing m...

Research on the prevention and intervention against violence in children is urgently needed. In contrast to a narrow approach, typically focused on physical violence against children, the authors offer a novel and urgently needed framework that captures the episodic, structural and cultural nature of both violence and peace. Ranging from intersecti...

Familism is a core Latinx value that emphasizes deference to family and prioritizing family over the self, and is typically examined as a predictor of positive psychosocial outcomes in Latinx youth and their families (Stein et al., 2014). Few studies have examined predictors of familism in Latinx youth, with the majority of work focusing on how fam...

This edited volume highlights how individuals, communities and nations are addressing a history of protracted violence in the transition to peace. This path is not linear or straightforward. The volume integrates research from peace processes and practices spanning over 20 countries. Four thematic areas unite these contributions: formal transitiona...

Purpose Colombia presents with one of the largest armed conflicts in the world. Children exposed directly or indirectly to armed conflicts live the emotional footprints left by war. This paper aims to identify mental health problems among children survivors of Colombia’s armed conflict and associated factors. Design/methodology/approach A cross-se...

Growing up in the aftermath of armed conflict puts youth at a higher risk for psychopathology—particularly in societies like Northern Ireland which continue to be characterized by intergroup tension and cyclical violence. This risk may be heightened during adolescence, when youth are beginning to explore their identities and are becoming more aware...

Background: The emergence of the coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) resulted in a global pandemic. The psychological impact of an epidemic is multifaceted and acute, with long-term consequences. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey-based design was employed, assessing the psychological impact of COVID-19 on members of the Irish public during t...

Flags are conceptual representations that can prime nationalism and allegiance to one’s group. Investigating children’s understanding of conflict-related ethnic flags in divided societies sheds light on the development of national categories. We explored the development of children’s awareness of, and preferences for, ethnic flags in Northern Irela...

Burgeoning evidence identifies the influence of fathers and, relatedly, fathers in the family context (e.g., family conflict), on adolescent adjustment. However, little is known about the significance of fathers' presence in contexts of environmental risk. In a unique social-political context of economic and sociopolitical adversity, this study exa...

This chapter focuses on the sensitivities and challenges that researchers need to be mindful of when carrying out identity-related quantitative research with children and young people in societies that have been impacted by conflict. Drawing from our own experience of multiple research studies, and from two case studies in particular, we share less...

Conducting research in violent environments poses particular challenges for researchers and participants. The current chapter explores factors that influence field research in Colombia prior to and immediately following the peace accord in 2016, which formally ended the country’s 50-year conflict between the government and the country’s largest gue...

The persistence of intergroup conflicts around the world creates urgency for research on child development in such settings. Complementing the existing knowledge about internalizing and externalizing developmental outcomes, this article shifts the focus to children’s prosocial behaviors, and more specifically, introduces the Developmental Peacebuil...

This chapter uses a developmental approach to understand how collective victimhood is transmitted from generation to generation, focusing on the role of the family and drawing on research examples from Vukovar, Croatia, and Northern Ireland. In these two postaccord and divided societies, ethnic socialization in families serves as a major mechanism...

We examined the direct and interactive effects of community violence and both family cohesion and conflict on collective efficacy and aggressive behaviors among immigrant young adults. Participants included 221 young adults (ages 18-26; mean age = 21.36; 45.7% female, 190 born outside the U.S.) who completed self-report measures of their exposure t...

Empathy for salient outgroups can promote positive intergroup attitudes and prosocial behaviours. Less is known about which factors may promote empathy, particularly among children, in contexts of intergroup conflict. Empathy may depend on underlying cognitions, such as social essentialist beliefs, that is, believing that certain social categories...

Amid protracted conflict, children are raised in divided contexts which shape the development of their intergroup attitudes and behaviors. Social Identity Development Theory (SIDT) suggests that ingroup preference may contribute to more negative outgroup attitudes and behaviors in middle childhood. In such contexts, ingroup favoritism may shape res...

Aims: How and when children develop an understanding of group boundaries have implications for conflict resolution. When social divisions are not perceptually distinct, symbols become particularly important. Framed by Social Identity Development Theory, this study was designed to assess children’s categorization of symbols with conflict-related gro...

Improving interethnic relations in conflict-affected societies is a difficult task, as a complex repertoire of mutual views and reactions is developed. Furthermore, the experiences of the children in such situations have rarely been taken into perspective. Therefore, this study tries to address this research gap by using data from the Republic of N...

Many of today’s youth are growing up and developing their sense of self in settings where identities are contested. Such identity dynamics play a key role in societal functioning, with group conflict often arising and being maintained due to competing social identities. Understanding how youth develop these social identities, and the consequences f...

The paper explored how to promote constructive intergroup relations among children and young people in a context of protracted conflict. Across two studies, the Empathy-Attitudes-Action model was examined in middle childhood and adolescence. More specifically, we tested the relations among dispositional empathy, outgroup attitudes, and prosocial be...

Assessing children’s awareness of ethnic identity and group boundaries is important in conflict-affected societies. For example, in the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM), tense interethnic relations remain and can be seen in the largely separate living patterns, particularly in schools. This brief report analyses data from 194 children (57.7% femal...

Many of today’s youth are growing up and developing their sense of self in settings where identities are contested. Such identity dynamics play a key role in societal functioning, with group conflict often arising and being maintained due to competing social identities. Understanding how youth develop these social identities, and the consequences f...

Given the current global “refugee crisis,” there is a need for research investigating methods to promote positive intergroup relationships in host communities. This chapter will explore how empathy can be used to encourage host-society children to develop positive attitudes and engage in helping and prosocial behaviors toward refugees. The focus wi...

Over half of refugees are school‐aged children. In host communities, children's attitudes and behaviours are important for the integration of refugee children. This study examines the empathy–attitudes–action model in middle childhood (N = 94, 8 to 11 years old). In both the experimental and control conditions, children were introduced to a (fictio...