Poster #61 - The impact of the experience of inequality on children’s prosocial behaviors

• In Event: Poster Session 13

Abstract

Inequality, especially wealth inequality, has been steadily increasing over several decades around the world (Solt, 2016). Previous studies have documented that greater inequality is not only associated with several social problems, such as lower social mobility (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009), but also adversely affects adults’ social – including prosocial – behaviors (Mani et al., 2013). Yet it remains unknown whether and how the experience of inequality impacts young children’s prosocial behaviors. Exploring this question can provide insights into the potential social effects of inequality in early development. The present, pre-registered study started to investigate this question with 4- to 9-year-old children from the U.S.

Children (current N = 166, planned N = 216) were presented with a novel machine online that appeared to randomly distribute tokens between the participant and a (pretend) peer; the tokens could then be exchanged for prizes. After 10 rounds, the participant either had the same number of tokens as the peer (Equality condition), more than the peer (Advantageous Inequality, AI), or less than the peer (Disadvantageous Inequality, DI). We also conducted a nonsocial-disadvantage (NS-D) condition, in which the machine distributed resources between the participant and a box, to ensure any effects of inequality arise from social comparisons instead of mere frustration about receiving less.

After the distribution, children received 5 stickers that they could share with another child (not the peer from the distribution game). We also measured children’s judgments about how fair the machine was and their emotional reactions before and after the distribution.

With the current sample, we conducted preliminary analyses on how children’s responses vary across conditions and ages. First, children at all ages judged the machine as unfair when they received less than the peer (DI), whereas the older children also judged receiving more than the peer (AI) as unfair (F(3,156)=4.21, p=.007). Importantly, children across the age range reported somewhat negative emotion only after receiving less than the peer (DI) but not after receiving less than the box (NS-D) or in the AI or E conditions (F(3,158)=14.43, p<.001) (Figure 1). Contrary to prediction, children did not share differently across conditions (F(3,158)=1.00, p=.39). However, an exploratory analysis revealed an effect of gender: Whereas girls shared a similar number of stickers across conditions and ages (M=2.21, SD=1.38), with age, boys were more generous after receiving more than the peer (AI) and in the nonsocial-disadvantage condition (ps<.005). The number of stickers shared was similar across the age range when boys received less than the peer (DI) (M=1.86, SD=1.15) or equal to the peer (E) (M=1.86, SD=1.80) (Figure2).

In sum, the ongoing work provides the first investigation of the effect of experiencing inequality on children’s prosocial behaviors. Our preliminary findings suggest that disadvantageous inequality gives rise to more negative emotions among preschool and school-age children and that with age, it may undermine prosociality, at least among boys. The present work thus promises to shed light on potential environmental and experiential influences on early prosocial development.

Authors

• Yuhang Shu, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Amrisha Vaish, University of Virginia - Charlottesville