Kristin Shutts, PhD
Professor, Psychology
Biography
PhD, Harvard University
Contact Information
Waisman Center
1500 Highland Ave
Room 538B
Madison, WI 53705
608.265.8949
kshutts@wisc.edu
Lab Website: Social Kids Lab
Research Statement
I study how infants and children apprehend their social world. I am particularly interested in the development of social categories and inter-group bias in childhood. When do children come to see themselves and others as belonging to different social categories (e.g., gender, ethnicity, social class), which distinctions matter most to children, and how does this change over development and a result of immersion in a particular culture? What mechanisms support the development of social biases, and what kinds of interventions might ameliorate them?
Selected Publications
Fukuda, E., Scott, K. E., Swerbenski, K., Huth, N., Barnett, K., Sarmiento, N., Henkel, M., & Shutts, K. (2025). A Systematic Review of Modern Measures for Capturing Children’s Ethnic and Racial Attitudes, Stereotypes, and Discrimination. Developmental review : DR, 76, 101189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2025.101189
King, R. A., Fukuda, E., Shutts, K., & Kinzler, K. D. (2025). Examining factors that facilitate young children’s social connections: An experimental approach. Developmental psychology, 10.1037/dev0002003. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0002003
Scott, K. E., Huth, N., Fukuda, E., Shutts, K., & Devine, P. G. (2024). Empowering behaviors to address race with kids (EmBARK): A racial socialization program for white families. Journal of applied developmental psychology, 94, 101696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2024.101696
Swerbenski, K. L., Barnett, K. C., Devine, P. G., & Shutts, K. (2024). Making “Fast Friends” Online in Middle Childhood and Early Adolescence. Social development (Oxford, England), 33(1), e12708. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12708
Scott, K. E., Henkel, M. A., Moens, O. M., Devine, P. G., & Shutts, K. (2023). Children’s evaluations of and reactions to racial discrimination. Developmental psychology, 59(7), 1190–1202. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001542
King, R. A., Jordan, A. E., Liberman, Z., Kinzler, K. D., & Shutts, K. (2023). Young children apply the homophily principle to their reasoning about social relationships. Developmental psychology, 59(5), 928–939. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001517
Scott, K. E., Ash, T. L., Immel, B., Liebeck, M. A., Devine, P. G., & Shutts, K. (2023). Engaging White parents to address their White children’s racial biases in the Black-White context. Child development, 94(1), 74–92. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13840
Heck, I. A., Shutts, K., & Kinzler, K. D. (2022). Children’s thinking about group-based social hierarchies. Trends in cognitive sciences, 26(7), 593–606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.04.004
Sierksma, J., Brey, E., & Shutts, K. (2022). Racial Stereotype Application in 4-to-8-Year-Old White American Children: Emergence and Specificity. Journal of cognition and development : official journal of the Cognitive Development Society, 23(5), 660–685. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2022.2090945
Plate, R. C., Shutts, K., Cochrane, A., Green, C. S., & Pollak, S. D. (2021). Testimony bias lingers across development under uncertainty. Developmental psychology, 57(12), 2150–2164. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001253
Sierksma, J., & Shutts, K. (2021). Competence-based helping: Children’s consideration of need when providing others with help. Journal of experimental child psychology, 210, 105206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105206
Shutts, K., & Kalish, C. W. (2021). Intuitive sociology. Advances in child development and behavior, 61, 335–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.acdb.2021.05.004
Scott, K. E., Shutts, K., & Devine, P. G. (2020). Parents’ Role in Addressing Children’s Racial Bias: The Case of Speculation Without Evidence. Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 15(5), 1178–1186. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620927702
Sierksma, J., & Shutts, K. (2020). When Helping Hurts: Children Think Groups That Receive Help Are Less Smart. Child development, 91(3), 715–723. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13351
Scott, K. E., Shutts, K., & Devine, P. G. (2020). Parents’ Expectations for and Reactions to Children’s Racial Biases. Child development, 91(3), 769–783. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13231
King, R. A., Scott, K. E., Renno, M. P., & Shutts, K. (2020). Counterstereotyping can change children’s thinking about boys’ and girls’ toy preferences. Journal of experimental child psychology, 191, 104753. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104753
DeJesus, J. M., Du, K. M., Shutts, K., & Kinzler, K. D. (2019). How information about what is “healthy” versus “unhealthy” impacts children’s consumption of otherwise identical foods. Journal of experimental psychology. General, 148(12), 2091–2103. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000588
Terrizzi, B. F., Brey, E., Shutts, K., & Beier, J. S. (2019). Children’s developing judgments about the physical manifestations of power. Developmental psychology, 55(4), 793–808. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000657
Brey, E., & Shutts, K. (2018). Children Use Nonverbal Cues from an Adult to Evaluate Peers. Journal of cognition and development : official journal of the Cognitive Development Society, 19(2), 121–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2018.1449749
Plate RC, Fulvio JM, Shutts K, Green CS, Pollak SD. (2018). Probability Learning: Changes in Behavior Across Time and Development. Child Development. 89(1):205-218. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12718.
DeJesus JM, Shutts K, Kinzler KD. (2017). Mere social knowledge impacts children’s consumption and categorization of foods. Developmental Science, 21(5):e12627. doi: 10.1111/desc.12627.
Shutts K, Kenward B, Falk H, Ivegran A, Fawcett C. (2017). Early preschool environments and gender: Effects of gender pedagogy in Sweden. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 162:1-17. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.04.014.
Shutts K, Brey EL, Dornbusch LA, Slywotzky N, Olson KR. (2016) Children Use Wealth Cues to Evaluate Others. PLoS One. 2;11(3):e0149360. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.
Shutts, K. (2015) Young Children’s Preferences: Gender, Race, and Social Status. Child Development Perspectives, 9, 262-266.
Renno MP, Shutts K. (2015) Children’s social category-based giving and its correlates: Expectations and preferences. Developmental Psychology, 51(4):533-43. doi: 10.1037/a0038819.
DeJesus JM, Shutts K, Kinzler KD. (2015) Eww she sneezed! Contamination context affects children’s food preferences and consumption. Appetite, 87:303-9. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2014.12.222.
Brey E, Shutts K. (2015) Children use nonverbal cues to make inferences about social power. Child Development, 86(1):276-86. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12334.
Huckstadt LK, Shutts K. (2014) How Young Children Evaluate People With and Without Disabilities. Journal of Social Issues. 1;70(1):99-114.
Weisman K, Johnson MV, Shutts K. (2014) Young children’s automatic encoding of social categories. Developmental Science, 18(6):1036-43. doi: 10.1111/desc.12269.
Shutts K, Pemberton CK, Spelke ES. (2013) Children’s Use of Social Categories in Thinking About People and Social Relationships. Journal of Cognition and Development. 14(1):35-62.
Shutts K, Kinzler KD, Dejesus JM. (2013) Understanding Infants’ and Children’s Social Learning About Foods: Previous Research and New Prospects. Developmental Psychology. 49(3):419-25.
Baltazar NC, Shutts K, Kinzler KD. (2012) Children show heightened memory for threatening social actions. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. May;112(1):102-10.
Shutts K, Kinzler KD, Katz RC, Tredoux C, Spelke ES. (2011) Race preferences in children: insights from South Africa. Developmental Science. Nov;14(6):1283-91.
Shutts K, Banaji MR, Spelke ES. (2010) Social categories guide young children’s preferences for novel objects. Developmental Science. Jul;13(4):599-610.
Shutts K, Ornkloo H, von Hofsten C, Keen R, Spelke ES. (2009) Young children’s representations of spatial and functional relations between objects. Child Development. Nov-Dec;80(6):1612-27.