I study how people come to represent and think about societal hierarchies, political systems, and group-based inequities. How children see societal structures offers a lens into how society first becomes represented in people’s minds, and into ways of thinking about and responding to societal inequities that may remain particularly intuitive over the lifespan and time. My research follows three main streams: (1) Mechanisms of learning about social group-based hierarchies; (2) Developing leadership cognition and sociopolitical thought; (3) Becoming involved in societal and political systems.
Mechanisms of learning about group-based hierarchies
Children demonstrate an awareness of social group-based hierarchies starting in the first years of life. My research builds on these findings to ask how this awareness forms. Core to this research stream is the idea that identifying inputs through which children learn about group-based structures can help reveal how negative implications of this learning (bias, stereotypes) are formed and may be mitigated and reshaped. An awareness of group-based inequities is also an important foundation on which motivations to change societal structures can form—my research aims to understand the routes through which people begin to rectify or reify societal structures early in life.
Publications:
+ Heck, Shutts, & Kinzler (2022). Children's thinking about group-based social hierarchies. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
+ Heck, Kushnir, & Kinzler (2023). Building representations of the social world: Children extract patterns from social choices to reason about multi-group hierarchies. Developmental Science.
+ Heck, Kushnir, & Kinzler (2021). Social Sampling: Children track social choices to reason about status hierarchies. JEP: General.
+ Heck, Bas, & Kinzler (2022). Small groups lead, big groups control: Perceptions of numerical group size, power, and status across development. Child Development.
Publications:
+ Heck, Shutts, & Kinzler (2022). Children's thinking about group-based social hierarchies. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
+ Heck, Kushnir, & Kinzler (2023). Building representations of the social world: Children extract patterns from social choices to reason about multi-group hierarchies. Developmental Science.
+ Heck, Kushnir, & Kinzler (2021). Social Sampling: Children track social choices to reason about status hierarchies. JEP: General.
+ Heck, Bas, & Kinzler (2022). Small groups lead, big groups control: Perceptions of numerical group size, power, and status across development. Child Development.
Developing leadership cognition and sociopolitical thought
Political leadership and decision-making can seem distant from young children's lives, yet my research reveals societal messages begin shaping children's ideas about leadership—and whom it is 'for'—remarkably early in life. My collaborators and I have proposed that how children see leadership offers a critical, yet understudied, lens into how group-based inequities in politics are created and maintained. I am interested in understanding how contextual and individual variation in leadership cognition and preferences form, and use intersectional and global perspectives in asking these questions.
Publications:
+ Heck, Santhanagopalan, Cimpian, & Kinzler (2021). Understanding the developmental roots of gender gaps in politics. Psychological Inquiry [target article]
+ Heck, Santhanagopalan, Cimpian, & Kinzler (2021). An integrative developmental framework for studying gender inequities in politics. Psychological Inquiry [response to commentaries]
+ Santhanagopalan, Heck, & Kinzler (2022). Leadership, gender, and colorism: Children in India use social category information to guide leadership cognition. Developmental Science.
Publications:
+ Heck, Santhanagopalan, Cimpian, & Kinzler (2021). Understanding the developmental roots of gender gaps in politics. Psychological Inquiry [target article]
+ Heck, Santhanagopalan, Cimpian, & Kinzler (2021). An integrative developmental framework for studying gender inequities in politics. Psychological Inquiry [response to commentaries]
+ Santhanagopalan, Heck, & Kinzler (2022). Leadership, gender, and colorism: Children in India use social category information to guide leadership cognition. Developmental Science.
Becoming involved in societal and political systems
Children not only learn about societal and political systems, but quickly become active participants in these systems, too. One important aspect of participation in societal systems involves people's thinking about the legitimacy of these systems. I use a developmental perspective to investigate people's intuitive thinking about societal and political systems including voting, censorship, punishment, and laws related to harm. I also study how children see themselves in societal hierarchies and systems, with a focus on children's feelings of belonging in leadership and children's envisioning of their future occupational lives.
Publications:
+ Heck, Bregant, & Kinzler (2021). 'There are no Band-Aids for emotions': The development of thinking about emotional harm. Developmental Psychology.
+ Anderson, Heck, Young, & Kinzler (2023). The development of beliefs about censorship. Cognition.
+ Santhanagopalan, Heck, & Kinzler (2022). Leadership, gender, and colorism: Children in India use social category information to guide leadership cognition. Developmental Science.
+ Heck, Chernyak, & Sobel (2018). Preschoolers' compliance with others' violations of fairness norms: The roles of intentionality and affective perspective taking. Journal of Cognition and Development.
Publications:
+ Heck, Bregant, & Kinzler (2021). 'There are no Band-Aids for emotions': The development of thinking about emotional harm. Developmental Psychology.
+ Anderson, Heck, Young, & Kinzler (2023). The development of beliefs about censorship. Cognition.
+ Santhanagopalan, Heck, & Kinzler (2022). Leadership, gender, and colorism: Children in India use social category information to guide leadership cognition. Developmental Science.
+ Heck, Chernyak, & Sobel (2018). Preschoolers' compliance with others' violations of fairness norms: The roles of intentionality and affective perspective taking. Journal of Cognition and Development.