Can music reduce anti-dark-skin prejudice? A test of a cross-cultural musical education programme
Author(s):
Félix Neto
Maria da Conceiçao Pinto
Etienne Mullet
Publication Year:
2016
Type:
journal article
Journal/Book Title
Psychology of Music
Publisher
Editor(s):
Pages:
388-398
Volume:
44
Issue:
3
Abstract:
The study examined the impact of a cross-cultural musical programme on young Portuguese adolescents’ anti-dark-skin prejudice. A sample of 229 sixth-grade pupils who attended public schools in the area of Lisbon, Portugal, were presented with the Implicit Association Test (IAT) – an instrument that measures the strength with which dark-skinned faces or light-skinned faces are associated with attributes that can be considered as negative or positive, and with a test measuring explicit anti-dark-skin prejudice. Half of the pupils were subsequently exposed, at school, to a 6-month musical programme that included Cape Verdean songs and Portuguese songs. The other half was exposed to the usual programme. Measures taken at the end of the programmes showed a reduction in anti-dark-skin prejudice, either implicit or explicit, among pupils in the experimental group and no reduction among pupils in the control group. Measures taken 3 months later and 2 years later showed that the impact of the experimental programme was enduring.
Citation (Chicago Author-Date):
Neto, Félix, Maria da Conceiçao Pinto, and Etienne Mullet. 2016. “Can Music Reduce Anti-Dark-Skin Prejudice? A Test of a Cross-Cultural Musical Education Programme.” Psychology of Music 44 (3): 388–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735614568882.