Children Gradually Perceive the Poor as Experiencing More Pain: Evidence from the U.S. and China

• In Event: Leveraging Developmental Science to Advance Social Justice

Abstract

Wealth inequality throughout the world has steadily increased for decades (e.g., Solt, 2016). People of low wealth status are not only disadvantaged in terms of material resources, but they also receive poorer medical care, presumably because adults perceive the poor as less sensitive to pain than the rich (e.g., Summers et al., 2021). How do children reason about the sufferings of the poor versus the rich? Answering this question pinpoints the onset of the causal effect of wealth on pain perception. The present research investigated this question with 4- to 9-year-old children from the U.S. (Studies 1, 3 and 4) and China (Study 2).

Studies 1 and 2 presented American (N = 106) and Chinese participants (N = 118) with four distinct pairs of child characters. One character possessed a low-quality belonging (e.g., old dirty toys) and the other possessed a high-quality belonging (e.g., new fancy toys), which indicated their different wealth backgrounds (Olson et al., 2012). In each trial, participants were presented with a scenario in which both children experienced an identical physically harmful event (e.g., hit their head) and were then asked to choose who hurt more. With age, both American and Chinese children perceived individuals of low wealth status as experiencing more physical pain than those of high wealth status. Interestingly, Chinese children seemed to endorse these beliefs earlier than American children (Figure 1).

Study 3 (N = 112) was identical to Study 1 with two exceptions. First, American children were presented with two pairs of child characters and two pairs of adult characters; Second, in addition to making pain predictions, children allocated a healthcare item between the two characters in each trial. In line with Study 1, with age, children became increasingly likely to associate more physical pain with the poor, regardless of whether the targets were adults or children. Consequently, children were more likely to provide limited healthcare resources to the poor.

Study 4 (N = 124) adopted a similar paradigm to examine whether American children attended to one’s wealth status in their predictions of psychological pain. Participants were presented with four pairs of characters; one was rich and the other was poor. In each trial, both characters experienced a distressing event (e.g., best friends move to a different city). Children were then asked to choose who felt worse. We found a similar developmental trend: Children with age tended to perceive the poor as suffering more psychological distress than the rich. In addition, they were more likely to comfort the poor individuals than the rich individuals.

Taken together, we found converging evidence demonstrating that children gradually perceive the poor as suffering more pain when they experience the same harmful events as the rich. Moreover, this association predicts children’s resource allocation decisions, leading them to provide more healthcare and mental resources to the poor. Thus, in early life, children hold more empathy towards the poor. These early-emerging beliefs may be utilized to reduce the wealth-based disparities in pain treatments and ultimately advance social justice.

Authors

• Yuhang Shu, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Vanessa Lazaro, University of Chicago

• Huisi Li, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Lin Bian, University of Chicago