Professor of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology in the College of Education at the University of Maryland
About
Melanie Killen, PhD, is professor of human development and quantitative methodology, professor of Psychology (affiliate) and distinguished scholar-teacher at the University of Maryland. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, and Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Dr. Killen's primary research expertise includes origins of prejudice and bias, social inequalities in childhood, conceptions of wealth inequalities, and moral development. Her team developed a school-based program called Developing Inclusive Youth to reduce prejudice and promote intergroup friendships in childhood. She was an expert witness for the Office of the Attorney General in Massachusetts for a federal school desegregation case. Her research was profiled in CNN AC360's Kids on Race: The Hidden Picture. Funding for her research is provided by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Current Work:
Dr. Killen's research focuses on children's and adolescents' social and moral development, and specifically how youth develop concepts of fairness, equality, and equity. Her research investigates how children and adolescents evaluate decisions about peer social inclusion and exclusion, and how they think about the fair distribution of resources. Children are aware of status and hierarchies, often reject the status quo, and seek to rectify social inequalities. Challenging inequalities is costly, however, and we identify the barriers as well as the catalysts. With age, children's knowledge of groups, theory of social mind, and experiences of cross-group friendships enable them to begin to critically evaluate unfair practices, rectify inequalities, and act on their fairness principles, particularly in peer contexts. To examine how to promote social and racial justice, we are conducting a randomized control trial to test the effectiveness of a school-based program, "Developing Inclusive Youth.
Research Area(s):
- children; morality; prejudice. social cognition, social justice
