The Influence of Social Status on Children’s Perceptions of Others’ Pain and Resource Allocations

• In Event: Fairness and Inequality

Abstract

Adults assume that those who have experienced economic hardships feel less pain than those who have not (e.g., Hoffman & Trawalter, 2016). This bias may give rise to inequalities in allocating healthcare resources. To our knowledge, few studies have examined the developmental trajectory of this bias. Here, we investigated (1) 4- to 9-year-old children’s perceptions of pain suffered by poor vs. rich individuals, and (2) how these perceptions influence their resource allocation decisions.

Study 1 examined the development of children’s expectations about others’ pain based on their social status. Four- to nine-year-old participants (N = 125) received four trials in which they saw pictures of two children of the same gender and race. However, one child possesses high-value belongings (e.g., big houses and fancy bikes), and the other child possesses low-value belongings (e.g., small shacks and older bikes; Olson, Shutts, Kinzler, & Weisman, 2012), indicating a difference in their social status. In each trial, participants were told that both children experienced a minor accident, such as getting soap in their eyes. Participants were asked to indicate who hurt more between the two targets. Our results suggest that children became more likely to choose the low-status individuals with age, r = -0.22, p = .014. In particular, although 4- and 5-year-old children did not demonstrate a bias in their selections (M = 44%, p = .155), children at age 6 and older perceived the poor individuals to suffer more pain (M = 60%, p = .010, see Figure 1). Therefore, children become increasingly likely to assume that children from low SES backgrounds feel more pain than those from high SES backgrounds.

In Study 2, we examined whether children’s pain perceptions were related to their decisions of allocating resources. Four- to nine-year-old participants (N = 102) received four trials in which two adults or two children with different social statuses experienced a minor accident. To measure children’s pain perceptions, they were asked to indicate which person hurt more and which person they feel more sorry for. Additionally, participants were asked to provide a pain-relieving item (e.g., a Band-Aid or an ice pack) to one of the two individuals. Replicating Study 1, we found a similar relation between age and children’s pain perception, r = -0.27, p = .006. Children at age 6 and older (M = 57%, p = .009), but not the younger ones (M = 46%, p = .313), perceived low-status individuals to experience more pain than their high-status counterparts (see Figure 1). Moreover, children’s pain perceptions predicted their tendency to allocate resources to individuals from low SES backgrounds, r = 0.33, p = .001. The more pain children perceived the low-status individuals to be suffering from compared to the high-status individuals, the more likely they were to provide the healthcare supplies to the disadvantaged people.

Overall, our results suggest that, different from adults, children perceive individuals of low social status to suffer more pain than individuals of high social status. These expectations guide their decisions to allocate healthcare resources.

Authors

• Lindsay Tuttle, Cornell University
  Presenting Author

• Huisi Li, Georgia Institute of Technology
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lin Bian, University of Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author