Poster #60 - Do children infer social status from social exclusion?

• In Event: Poster Session 06

Abstract

Information about others’ social status is important for young children to navigate the social world. By preschool, children recognize characteristics associated with higher status. For example, children recognize that higher status people are attractive social partners, wield more social power, and have access to more resources (Hawley, 1999). Preschool aged children can also infer social status from a person’s ability to control physical resources and identify those with more resources as “in charge” (Charafeddine et al., 2015; Enright et al., 2020; Gulgoz & Gelman, 2018). Young children themselves also prefer high-status people (Enright et al., 2020). While children prefer high status people and can infer status from their access to physical resources, little research has examined if young children can infer the social status of someone who is controlling social resources. For instance, social exclusion, or the act of being left out by at least one other, is a social interaction where a person’s access to social resources (e.g. positive interactions with others), is restricted by another. The current study examines whether children infer social status from observed social exclusion. Further, we examine whether children infer control over both physical and social resources based on social exclusion.

In this preregistered study, we are collecting data from 96 participants between 3- and 6-years-old in a virtual study (N = 4). Children will watch two videos and listen to two stories depicting social exclusion. After each observation, children will answer questions comparing the social status of the excluding character and the excluded character. Children will be asked about social status (e.g. “Who is in charge?”) and to compare the physical or social resources of the two characters. To examine whether children view the excluding character as higher status, we will compare children’s responses to chance using a t-test. We hypothesize that children in the overall sample will identify the excluder as higher status. Second, we will use a generalized linear mixed model to examine children’s choices of who they believe is in charge. Specifically, we will predict children’s response from their age and parent-reported gender. We hypothesize that older children will be more likely to identify the excluding character as having higher status. Consistent with prior work on exclusion (Hwang et al., 2020; Woodward et al., 2022), follow up analyses will examine children’s choices within two age groups: a younger age group (3- and 4-year-olds) and an older age group (5- and 6-year-olds). Finally, we will use a generalized linear mixed model to predict children’s responses to who has more resources. This model will predict children’s response from the type of resource (e.g. physical or social), age, and parent-reported gender. We hypothesize that there will be an age effect where older children will view excluding characters as having more physical and social resources, and younger children will only expect excluding characters to have more physical resources. This work will inform children’s expectations and preferences based on social exclusion and status.

Authors

• Amanda Mae Woodward, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Presenting Author

• Elizabeth A Enright, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign