Diversity and Social Learning

Research on learning in diverse groups has produced conflicting findings: on the one hand, socio-demographic differences between peers can improve learning because they create expectations of underlying cognitive potential and novelty (Levine et al., 2014). Other studies find that salient dissimilarity worsens learning and hampers social influence, pointing to the destructive identity processes that visible diversity can trigger (Guilbeault et al., 2023). Successful learning seems to depend on whether diversity awakens associations of cognitive potential or triggers affective devaluation (Page, 2019). In this study, we aim to isolate and experimentally vary a crucial component that can produce associations of either potential for learning or the devaluation of knowledge from others, namely, the category used for comparisons of (dis-)similarity. We hypothesize that when information about the cognitive characteristics of a source is available, dissimilarity should foster social learning more than similarity. Conversely, an identity-related trait such as ideological leaning should reinforce learning more when source and receiver are similar rather than dissimilar. We test these hypotheses in an experiment using the established approach-avoid paradigm, in which ‘learning traps’ lead individuals to develop suboptimal solutions (Rich & Gureckis, 2018). We then provide social information from other participants that can help finding the optimal solution, but its use is financially risky and cognitively demanding. A 2x2 experimental design varies whether the social information comes from a source that is either similar or dissimilar to the participant, and whether this type of (dis-)similarity relates to cognitive characteristics or ideological leaning. A final phase after the social learning phase compares the performance of participants across experimental conditions. Findings from this study add to the growing academic literature on diversity and complex social learning, and engage with a broader societal discourse about how to reap the benefits of diversity while avoiding pitfalls of destructive intergroup conflict.