Pluralistic Ignorance in Students’ Perception of Inclusive Classroom Norms: The Role of Gender-Specific Reference Groups

Classroom norms are important in shaping individual students’ prosocial behavior. Research documents that students often misperceive classroom norms by underestimating their classmates’ prosocial intentions – a phenomenon known as pluralistic ignorance. The current study investigated whether 5 th - and 6 th -grade students in Germany ( N = 234, 10-13 years, 51% female) expressed varying degrees of pluralistic ignorance regarding same- and opposite-gender classmates. Participants listened to a gender-matched scenario about a classmate with learning difficulties seeking inclusion in a group task. They indicated their own inclusive intentions as well as their perception of same-gender and opposite-gender classroom norms. The results supported the main hypothesis that students perceived lower levels of pluralistic ignorance regarding same-gender than opposite-gender classmates. These findings have implications for interventions aimed at correcting students’ norm misperceptions to promote prosocial behavior in classrooms.