She was a standing-room-only speaker at hundreds of colleges and universities. To most people, it seemed to suggest that racism could be reduced, even eliminated, by a one- or two-day exercise. Fistfights erupted on the school playground that she didnt stop. Consequently, the brown-eyed children started using blue-eyes as an insult. Why might a charismatic leader exhibit unethical behaviors? The second most common eye color is blue, with an estimated 17 percent of the world's population having blue eyes. While the heart of what Elliott did was racism abatement, she also began folding into her intense workshops issues of gender and age bias, along with prejudice based on conventional Western beauty standards. That Zimbardo had been so struck with Elliott made sense. After the exercise white college students in . Can you integrate if function is not continuous. (LogOut/ This time, the participants werent a bunch of elementary school children they were young adults. Jane divided the class into 9 brown eyes and 9 blue eyes. Given we can make causal claims from experiments and not from correlational studies, why don't we just experiment all the time? As a result of those divisions, you see racial discrimination or even terrorism. Jane says she first started this exercise in her third grade class back in 1968,. In response to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, Jane Elliott devised the controversial and startling, "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise." This, now famous, exercise labels participants as inferior or superior based solely upon the color of their eyes and exposes them to the experience of . Mrs. Janes purpose of the experiment was to solve a particular social problem of discrimination of minorities. They also harassed them constantly. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. She was hesitant to enroll in Elliotts workshop but was told that if she wanted to succeed as a manager, shed have to attend. The experiment certainly changed Elliotts life. She says that its shocking how children whore normally kind, cooperative, and friendly with each other suddenly become arrogant, discriminatory, and hostile when they belong to a superior group. On the contrary, the blue-eyed students played the role of the inferior group in the classroom. Elliott created the blue-eyes/brown-eyes classroom exercise in 1968 to teach students about racism. To get it started, she asked the children about which people they would perceive as lower class. Elliott divided her class by eye color those with blue eyes and those with brown. Voir les partenaires de TheConversation France. The following are some of her most insightful quotes on these issues. The documentary has become a popular teaching tool among teachers, business owners, and even employees at correctional facilities. As a schoolteacher, she became known for her Blue eyes/Brown eyes exercise, which she first conducted with her third-grade class on April 5, 1968, the day after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Elliott split her students into two groups, based on eye color. These differences lead to war and hate. The brown-eyed third-grade students were provided with the opportunity to be the superior group in the classroom. Considering all the stereotypes and prejudices that exist, what kind of damage is being done? Blue-eyed people are seen as being the most expressive. What can be changed to make the blue eyes and brown eyes experiment ethical according to the APA code of conduct? Elliott became a standing-room-only speaker at hundreds of colleges and universities. The arbitrary division among the students intensified over the course of the experiment, so much so that it actually ended in physical violence. She wanted to show her pupils what discrimination feels like, and what it can do to people. With over 2 million YouTube subscribers, over 500 articles, and an annual reach of almost 12 million students, it has become one of the most popular sources of psychological information. Todays heated arguments about critical race theory shouldnt surprise us because they arent new. In 1970, a documentary about the exercise was released. This way, she successfully created two distinct groups in her classroom: The consequences of the minimal group became evident very quickly. It seemed to evince that all white people had to do to learn about racism was restrain themselves from an impulse to engage in made-up cruelty. How can put those little children through that exercise for a day? And they seem unable to relate the sympathy that theyre feeling for these little white children for a day to what happens to children of color in this society for a lifetime or to the fact that they are doing this to children based on skin color every day. Therefore, two brown-eyed partners can birth a blue-eyed baby. Is it permissible to breach ethical guidelines when studying certain research topics? When she separated the class by eye color and announced that blue-eyed children were superior, Paul Bodensteiner objected at every turn. Brown eyed students were allowed to drink from the water fountain, while blue eyed students had to use a cup to get water. Explain the value of standards and ethics in the psychological testing process. Julie Pasicznyk, who had been working for telecommunications company US West in Minneapolis, was hesitant to enroll in Elliotts workshop, but was told that if she wanted to succeed as a manager, shed have to attend. What questions about the Milgram experiment did critics raise? Welcome to a godforsaken spit of land in the middle of the ocean, where 100 people have blue eyes and 100 have brown. And the exercise continued in a similar fashion to how it was executed the day before. People with grey eyes are perceived to be the smartest. On different days, one of the groups was given special treatment. Blue-eyed children got five extra minutes of recess. Pasicznyk joined 75 other telecommunication employees for a training session that lasted three days in a Denver suburb during the mid-1980s. Unfortunately, social psychologists find issues in experimenting social behavior without breaking ethical rules since informing some participants might influence their attitude in the experiment. In 2001, she was still trying to make a change. The students initially involved wished that everyone could participate in an exercise like this. Analytics cookies help website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously. Its not true and its not fair no matter what you say! he responded. Dick DeMarsico/New York World-Telegram & the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection/PhotoQuest/Getty Images, Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images. In 2020, Bloom earned theDistinguished Teaching in Journalism Awardby the Society of Professional Journalists. As Elliott recalls, she engineered the "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise" in 1968 after watching the late-night news cycle announce the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Rather than be deterred by possible How does one's personality influenced by a phenotype? Their teacher, Jane Elliott, wanted to teach her third-graders a lesson in discrimination, so she told them that blue-eyed people were superior to those with brown eyes. Blue and brown eye experiment Rating: 6,6/10 1724 reviews The "blue eyes/brown eyes" exercise is a well-known experiment in which a teacher, Jane Elliott, taught a lesson on discrimination to her third-grade students by dividing them into . For example, brown and copper eyeshadows can bring out the brown and gold tones found in hazel eyes, and soft blues, purples, and greens can help to really make the green tones in hazel eyes shine. Sign up for Politics Weekly.]. After becoming aware of their differences, students became more likely to self-segregate into their own groups. But when she discovered that I was asking pointed questions of scores of her former students, as well as others subjected to the experiment, she made an about-face and said she no longer would cooperate with me. After being treated like a member of the inferior group, students were less inclined to treat their peers that way. With this experiment she wanted to let the blue-eyed people (white people) feel how it is to be in low power position. To get her points across, Elliott hurled insults at workshop participants, particularly those who were white and had blue eyes. Why is Jane Elliots experiment unethical? The video discusses the experiment a teacher conducted in her classroom, in which she divided her 3rd-grade class into groups with blue eyes and brown eyes and told them the blue-eyed groups were "the better people in . She then proceeded to tell the class the brown-eyed children were superior to the blue-eyed children in every way because of the amount of melanin they had in their eyes. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. When I interviewed Riceville residents, mentioning Elliotts name generated outbursts of anger and anguish. With a couple of basic and arbitrary examples, Elliott made the case that brown-eyed people were better. Elliott championed the experiment as an inoculation against racism., [The Conversations Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories. Why was the Stanford Prison Experiment controversial? To this day, at the age of 86, Jane Elliott continues this work. Why was the Milgram experiment unethical? Not only were they fewer in numbers, but the authority figure was against them. During the 1970s and 1980s in the United States workshops such as Elliotts gained popularity in and out of the corporate world. How do you think the world would change if everyone experienced the perils and setbacks that come with prejudice and discrimination? She asked her students, who were all white, whether or not they knew what it felt like to be judged by the color of their skin. Why or why not? What did the Milgram experiment show about the influence authority can have on the average person? If this arbitrary division that Elliott enforced for a few hours created so many problems in this classroom, whats happening on a larger scale? The brown-eyed students also exercised a certain level of power over the blue-eyed students when they put the armbands on them. This site uses different types of cookies. They needed not acknowledge their privilege or reflect on it. The second day, Elliott reversed the groups. Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes is a meticulously researched book that details for the first time Jane Elliotts jagged rise to stardom. The Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection/PhotoQuest/Getty Images, Gina the blue eyes and brown eyes experiment unethical Angeles Times via Getty Images insults workshop! Testing process average person people have blue eyes through that exercise for a?! Blue eyed students had to use a cup to get her points across, Elliott made case! Show about the influence authority can have on the school playground that she didnt stop and the continued. 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