Can music reduce anti-dark-skin prejudice? A test of a cross-cultural musical education programme. (May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Neto, Félix; da Conceiçao Pinto, Maria; Mullet, Etienne
• Is Part Of: Psychology of music. Volume 44:Number 3(2016:May)
• Page Start: 388
• Page End: 398
• Publication Date: 2016-05
• Subjects: anti-dark-skin prejudice -- attitude change -- Cape Verde -- musical programme -- Portugal; Music -- Psychological aspects -- Periodicals; 781.11
• DOI: 10.1177/0305735614568882
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-7356

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.