CHILDRENS SOCIAL JUDGMENTS OF OTHER CHILDREN WHO WEAR EYEGLASSES

This study was designed to determine if the negative effect of eyeglasses on adults' social judgments would be replicated with primary school children. First and third grade children indicated which member of pairs of slides of similar aged children photographed with and without eyeglasses they deemed either more positive or more negative. Nonparametric analyses indicated that eyeglasses increased negative judgments and decreased positive judgments, especially when they were worn by girls, regardless of whether they were judged by first or third graders. This study extends the research on adult stereotypes of glasses wearers to the early primary school years.