The acclaimed show Derry Girls has captivated audiences worldwide by showcasing the everyday lives of teenagers growing up in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. While political tensions are ever-present, the show emphasizes universal experiences like school, friendships, family, and identity. How relevant is Derry Girls to modern teens in Northern Ireland today?

Ongoing research led by Dr. Jocelyn Dautel at Queen’s University, Belfast, finds these themes still resonate, as young people continue to navigate the lingering effects of sectarian division while also facing new challenges, such as the overwhelming influx of polarized information.

The research builds on the themes of Derry Girls by exploring how adolescents in Northern Ireland engage with the complex histories and polarized narratives. It looks at how young people seek and share information in a divided society, shedding light on how they form beliefs, communicate across community lines, and contend with conflicting "truths."

Using a socio-ecological systems approach, the project explores the enduring influence of Northern Ireland’s divided history on young people’s lives, from peer relationships to family and school environments, and how this shapes (de)polarization. The research also highlights the potential for teens to be agents of change by practicing epistemic vigilance —critically assessing the reliability of information sources— as they navigate and challenge polarized narratives.

The Templeton World Charity Foundation funded research project, Communicating ‘Truth:’ Seeking and sharing polarized information amongst young people in a divided society, stems from an award-winning interdisciplinary collaboration across the fields of developmental and social psychology, anthropology, cultural evolution, and persuasive communication. The research team includes 11 researchers across 9 universities.

The research is featured, along with adolescents’ perspectives, in a short video documentary ‘Youth and Truth in Northern Ireland: Lessons for Reducing Polarization’ from Templeton World Charity Foundation’s “Stories of Impact ” by journalist and senior media executive Richard Sergay, as well as a two-time award winning podcast ‘Youth and Truth in Northern Ireland’ (winner of the Gold 2024 dotCOMM and 2024 Gold Hermes Creative awards). 

Key insights from the research are brought to life by the modern ‘Derry Girls’ (and guys) featured in the documentary:

1. Young people value the testimony of others over other sources, and especially trust beliefs of family around polarized narratives related to conflict. In our survey of 463 adolescents ages 12- to 18-years in Northern Ireland, participants reported being most likely to ask another person for more information about a conflict-related polarized topic (e.g. whether or not the island of Ireland should be partitioned), over seeking information from other (potentially more objective) information sources like articles, documentaries, or online.
   
   Moreover, when we asked adolescents what might lead them to change their beliefs about a polarized topic, they indicated that they were most likely to revise their views if their family held a different belief—more so than if the belief came from a close friend, their peers, or a teacher. While adolescents often seek information from peers over parents for many things (e.g. what to wear, what music to listen to…), our research underscores the vital role that family plays in shaping young people's perspectives, especially in contexts with a legacy of conflict.
   
   
2. Interactions between young people from different communities can help break down barriers, but sometimes information gets lost along the way. The same group of adolescents above also participated in a diffusion chain study, or in other words, an experimental game of telephone. The first teen in each of 68 chains read and recalled a polarized narrative, for instance, discussing pros and cons of the Irish Language Act.
   
   This recall was then given to a second teen, then a third, and a fourth. Researchers analysed how the message evolved across each chain. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the nature of the game of ‘telephone,’ the information degraded quickly - more than half of the details were missing by the second person in the chain. When the teens were recalling information about conflict-related narratives in Northern Ireland, even more information was lost than when they were discussing polarized information unrelated to conflict—in this case social media regulation.
   
   These findings show both the potential and the challenges of cross-community interactions, emphasizing the importance of supportive environments, like shared and integrated education, to help teens navigate communication about contentious topics related to group identity and conflict across divides.
   
   
3. Separate schools in Northern Ireland teach different historical content, another avenue towards polarization. To explore another layer of polarization that young people may face in Northern Ireland, we examined the content being taught in schools. We gathered data from a sample of publicly available school websites to see what history classes students in Northern Ireland are taught in secondary schools.
   
   Our analysis revealed a significant difference: 96% of Catholic-maintained schools offered content on ‘The Troubles,’ compared to just 46% of State-controlled schools. However, when it came to non-conflict-related subjects, such as ‘Modern World Studies,’ there were no notable differences in class selection.
   
   We also analysed the main textbooks across these history classes. With the help of Natural Language Processing (NLP) text-mining analysis, we uncovered some intriguing trends. In the textbook chapters covering the period of The Troubles—primarily taught in Catholic schools—the term "violence" was the third most common noun. In stark contrast, "violence" didn’t even rank in the top 20 nouns in the equivalent chapters from the pre-Troubles era, which are mainly taught in controlled schools, despite that period also including two world wars.
   
   Additionally, the terms "Unionist" and "Nationalist," representing the two main political factions in Northern Ireland, appeared significantly more often in the textbook chapters around The Troubles. These findings highlight the divided nature of history education in separate schools; fertile ground for polarization.

Much like the characters in Derry Girls, the young people involved in this research live at the intersection between historical conflict and a shared, peaceful future. Both the show and the research documentary reveal the resilience of Northern Ireland’s young people as they seek to overcome inherited divisions and define their futures.

While the humor and relatability of Derry Girls bring these dynamics to a global audience, Dr. Dautel’s research provides a deeper psychological and educational context, focusing on when and how young people seek out and share polarized narratives, and how incorporating diverse perspectives and engaging with critical thinking can help teens move beyond polarization and contribute to long-term peace.

Are you an educator who wants to get involved in our research? Educators are powerful drivers of change and so we want to hear from you! We want to gather teaching resources to analyse with text analysis, as discussed above, and we also want to hear about your experiences talking about divisive topics in schools. If you take part, you may be eligible for a voucher to thank you for your time.

You can help in each of these ways: Anonymously share teaching resources and/or sign up for an interview! For more information, email Dr. Eva Grew, postdoctoral research assistant, at eva.grew@qub.ac.uk.

Come meet us at the ESRC Festival of Social Science NI 2024 event ‘Youth and Truth: How young people navigate contentious topics’ on Thursday 7 November 2024, 5-7pm, at The Graduate School, Queen’s University Belfast.

This event is aimed at anyone who has something to say about young people’s challenges and resources when navigating the complex world of information. What can help young people to seek objective information? What strengthens their voice? Join us for an informal panel discussion about these topics – there will be tea, coffee, and biscuits!

Whether you’re a young person, a parent, or a teacher or youth worker, we would love to hear from you. By participating in this event, we hope that young people will feel heard and make a positive difference for their community. Register here.

Learn more about Dr. Dautel's Templeton World Charity Funded work here.

Love the Derry Girls? Read about Dr. Dautel’s work in relation to the show in her Contending Modernities Blog here.

Read a preprint of the research group’s latest academic work ‘The Development of Polarization: An Ecological Systems Approach’ here.

Dr. Jocelyn Dautel is a developmental psychologist researching how young people navigate their social worlds, especially when they are divided. She is a Reader in the School of Psychology, Director of the Kids in Context research lab, and Fellow of the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. She leads on global research collaborations, such as Communicating Truth and the Developing Belief Network, researching children’s social identity and beliefs. Through global education, research, and service, she contributes to debates about shared and distinctive processes in the development of social cognition, with an aim towards reducing inequalities and promoting peace.

Research team:

• Dr. Eva Grew, Queen’s University Belfast, Postdoctoral Research Assistant
• Caitlin McShane, Queen’s University Belfast, Research Assistant

Co-Investigators:

• Dr. Bethany Corbett, Ulster University
• Dr. Jing Xu, University of Washington
• Dr. Mariah Kornbluh, University of Oregon
• Prof. Jennifer Watling Neal, Michigan State University
• Dr. Lara Wood, Abertay University
• Dr. Christin Scholz, University of Amsterdam
• Prof. Kathleen Corriveau, Boston University
• Prof. Emma Flynn, Warwick University

Dr. Jocelyn Dautel

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For enquiries contact Jocelyn.Dautel@qub.ac.uk