Like a Boss: Older Children Try to Rectify Unequal Hierarchical Structures More Than Younger Children

• In Event: Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Topic - Social Cognition

Abstract

We live in societies that are organized hierarchically along many dimensions. Unfortunately, these structures often generate and perpetuate systemic inequality. In order to intervene upon problematic structures, we must first understand how people learn to represent and think about them. Developmental approaches represent a powerful tool for examining how hierarchical structures influence human thinking, and how observing and existing within these structures change the way that we experience the world. The current study investigates the intersection of representation and mobility within hierarchical structures. We presented 4- to 6-year-olds (n=40) and 7- to 9-year-olds (n=42) with three different arrays of “workers” and “bosses,” giving them the opportunity to select new bosses to fill vacancies in the arrays. The arrays (see Figure 1) reflected different kinds of inequality, including racial and gender inequality. As a comparison point, children were also presented with an array of triangles of two different colors. Participants were instructed to select two new bosses from a diverse array of workers. Children might then make selections that increased, maintained, or reduced the inequality in each set of bosses. After making selections for each array, children were asked to justify why a majority boss would promote a minority worker and why a majority boss would promote a majority worker. A 2 (Age Group: Younger children and Older children) X 3 (Array: Triangle, Gender, and Race) X 2 (Gender: Male and Female) mixed measures ANOVA was conducted with Array as a within-subjects factor (see Figure 2). There were significant main effects of Age Group, Array, and Gender with a significant interaction between Array and Gender. Older children selected minority applicants more than younger children, F(1,78)=4.89, p=.030, η2p=.06. Additionally, children’s hiring selections differed by Array, F(2,158)=5.58, p=.005, η2p=.12. They selected gender minorities more often than racial minorities, p=.009 or minorities in our control condition, p=.039. Girls also selected women to be bosses more than boys in our sample, F(2,156)=14.41, p<.001, η2p=.16. When children were asked to justify majority and minority hires, older (52.5%) and younger (20.3%) children said that minority hires were made to make the system more fair or equal, but primarily older children (51.6%), and not younger children (only 17.9%), said that majority hires were due to in-group preference. Children recognize when social hierarchies are non-representative and, if given the chance, they intervene to make them more fair and representative. More selections were made to address gender inequality than racial inequality, but this effect appears to be driven by girls selecting women. Recruitment of additional Black children is ongoing to determine if this effect may be present for race as well. Children generally acted to address inequality, but only older children explicitly cited the role that in-group preferences play within social hierarchies. This work is an important first step in investigating how individuals think about hierarchical structures, the social inequalities that they support, and how to address inequality in our own social groups.

Authors

• Megan Norris, University of Louisville
  Presenting Author

• Nicholaus Noles, University of Louisville
  Non-Presenting Author