How Perspective Influences Children’s Perceptions of Merit- and Gender-Based Inequalities

• In Event: 3-083 - “The Art of the Deal”: Children Balance Competing Concerns in Exchange Contexts

Integrative Statement

Children’s conceptions of fairness are an integral component of their social and moral development. Sharing and negotiating with resources provide children with experiences for constructing their understanding of equality, equity, and merit. Difficulties can arise, however, when children’s conceptions of fairness conflict with intergroup factors or their own desire for resources.

Research has documented that 3-5-year-old children are concerned with equality, equity, and merit (Rizzo et al., 2016; Schmidt et al., 2016; Wörle & Paulus, 2018). Other research, however, has documented instances in which children prioritize ingroup loyalty over fairness (e.g., giving more resources to gender ingroup members; Dunham et al., 2011; Renno & Shutts, 2015), and in which children accept/reject inequalities based on whether they are personally advantaged or disadvantaged by them (Blake & McAuliffe, 2011; Blake et al., 2015).

The present study examined how children coordinate moral, group, and personal concerns in resource allocation contexts. Specifically, the present study examined how children’s perspective within an inequality (Advantaged by it, Disadvantaged by it, or a Witness to it) relates to their judgments of the inequality, allocation of new resources, and reasoning. We examined this in two inequality contexts that varied by the explicit reason for the inequality: recipient merit and recipient gender.

Methods
Children (3-8 years; N = 275) from low- to middle-income families were recruited in the Mid-Atlantic and Southwestern regions of the U.S. Participants were ethnically representative of their sampling populations.

A 2 (Type of Inequality: Merit, Gender) X 3 (Perspective: Advantaged, Disadvantaged, Witness) between-subjects design was used. Participants completed an activity and received prizes from a fictional peer. In the Merit conditions, prizes were allocated based on performance. In the Gender conditions, allocations were based on gender. Advantaged participants received more prizes, Disadvantaged recipients received fewer prizes, and Witnesses were read a vignette about a 3rd-party inequality.

Participants were assessed on their 1) Judgment of Inequality, 2) Allocation of New Prizes, and 3) Reasoning for Allocation.

Results
Judgment of Inequality (Figure 1)
Main effects were found for Type of Inequality and Perspective (ps<.001). Interactions were found between Age and Type of Inequality (p=.03), Age and Perspective (p=.03), and Type of Inequality and Perspective (p=.003). Witnesses and Disadvantaged participants evaluated Gender-based inequalities more negatively than did Advantaged participants (ps<.01), whereas Witnesses and Advantaged participants rated Merit-based inequalities more positively than did Disadvantaged participants (ps<.05).

New Allocation (Figure 2)
Main effects were found for Type of Inequality and Perspective (ps<.001). Children were more likely to perpetuate merit-based inequalities and rectify gender-based inequalities. An Age by Perspective interaction was also found (p=.005); with age, participants who were advantaged by the allocation were less likely to perpetuate the inequality.
Reasoning

Differences were found in participants’ reasoning about equity, merit, ingroup loyalty and personal desires across perspectives and contexts (ps<.05).

Discussion
Results reveal novel insights into how children’s perspective influences their perceptions of, and responses to, inequalities, as well as children’s ability to distinguish between merit- and gender-based inequalities. Theoretical and practical implications will be discussed.

Authors

• Michael Rizzo, New York University
  Presenting Author

• Kimberly Vanderbilt, California State University San Marcos
  Non-Presenting Author

• Melanie Killen, University of Maryland
  Non-Presenting Author