Is fairness moral?

• In Event: The development of fairness: Perceptions, emotions, and actions

Abstract

Young children robustly distinguish between moral norms and conventional norms (Smetana, 1984; Yucel et al., 2020). In existing research, norms about the fair distribution of resources are by definition considered part of the moral domain; they are not distinguished from other moral norms such as those concerning physical harm. Yet an understanding of fairness in resource distribution (hereafter, “fairness”) emerges late in development and is culturally variable, raising the possibility that fairness may not fall squarely in the moral domain.

In a pre-registered study, we examined whether children (N = 94) see fairness as a moral or conventional norm. Four-year-olds rated moral transgressions (e.g., hitting) as more serious than fairness transgressions (e.g., taking more playdoh than another child) and than conventional transgressions (e.g., wearing pajamas to school), whereas they rated the latter two as equal in seriousness (see Table 1). In contrast, 6- and 8-year-olds rated moral transgressions as more serious than fairness and conventional transgressions, and fairness as more serious than conventional transgressions (see Table 1). A control condition with no transgressions showed that children did not simply rate all scenarios negatively (see Table 1). An additional, forced-choice procedure revealed that most 6-year-olds also categorized fairness with moral rather than conventional transgressions; 4- and 8-year-olds’ responses did not show systematic patterns. These results suggest that with age, children increasingly recognize distributional fairness violations as being more serious than conventional violations, but even into middle childhood, children do not yet perceive fairness violations to be as serious as more prototypical moral violations involving physical or property damage.

This is the first evidence that children may not equate norms of fairness in resource distribution with harm-based moral norms, pointing to the need for a more nuanced understanding of children’s developing perceptions of social norms. Understanding how, when, and why children perceive fairness as a moral or conventional norm can help us better understand how fairness is conceptualized. Ultimately, whether we conceptualize fairness as a moral or conventional issue will in turn affect how we respond to it. More research is thus needed to understand how children (or even adults) perceive and respond to fairness norm violations.

Authors

• Meltem Yucel, Duke University
  Presenting Author

• Marissa Britt Drell
  Non-Presenting Author

• Vikram K Jaswal, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amrisha Vaish, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author