A new study finds something perhaps a little bit depressing - babies are born with at least some prejudice. The study was published in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

While it may be true that babies aren't born hating other people, this study suggests that they do recognize groups and they expect group members to take care of each other, whether it's fair or not.

Researchers showed puppets to infants - two monkey puppets and one giraffe. One of the monkeys had cookies. When the monkey shared his cookies with the other two puppets or with just the other monkey the babies did nothing. But if the cookie monkey shared with just the giraffe and not the other monkey, the infants showed distress as if they were asking the question, "Like, why are you giving the cookies to that puppet?"

Researchers are quick to point out that it doesn't mean babies can't grow out of their biases. The researchers say as they age, their concept of "group" can change to include people who don't look alike - at least, that's what they hope.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences


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