Poster #81 - Children's Distributive Justice based on Wealth and Race

• In Event: Poster Session 14

Abstract

How young children determine what is fair when allocating resources is a fundamental aspect of moral development. Prior research has emphasized that children’s decisions about fairness involve considerations such as wealth and race (Burkholder, Elenbaas, & Killen, 2019). That is, children tend to allocate more resources to the needy than the rich, and to their racial ingroup than outgroup individuals. However, when “race” and “wealth” are in conflict, it is not known which factor children would consider more important. For instance, what if an in-group person is wealthy (does not need resources) and an out-group person is needy? It is imperative to understand which factor children would consider more important in their fairness decisions. Moreover, a majority of previous studies examined children in the Western culture, particularly the US. It is unknown where children in a racially homogeneous environment (e.g., Asia) also incorporate “race” as an important factor when they make fair allocation decisions.
To address these questions, the current study recruited 120 3- to 6-year-olds residing in South Korea. Children were presented with four hypothetical stories that depicted two peers who are potential recipients of resources (stickers). In each story, the two peers’ needy status and racial group status were varied: Story 1 had two peers with different racial group (ingroup vs. outgroup); Story 2 had different levels of wealth (needy vs. wealthy); and Story 3 contrasted wealth and race (wealthy ingroup peer vs. needy outgroup peer). We utilized a resource allocation framework: after hearing stories, children were asked to distribute a limited number of resources (six stickers) to two peers in a way in which they believed was the fairest way.
A set of one sample t-tests revealed that both racial group and needy status mattered respectively: 1) children allocated more stickers to the needy peer than the wealthy peer, t (119) = -5.042, p < 0.001 (M = 2.3, SD = 1.521); 2) children allocated more stickers to their racial in-group peer (Korean) than their racial out-group peer (dark-skinned), t (116) = 3.161, p =.002 (M = 3.20, SD = .67). Analyses on the final story revealed that children’s emphasis on the needy status dominated that on racial group status when these two factors were contrasted. thereby children’s allocations were based on the how needy recipient was rather than which racial group the recipient was in. That is, children allocated more stickers to the outgroup member with needy status than to the ingroup member with wealthy status, t (117) = -4.869, p < 0.001 (M = 2.34, SD = 1.47). The findings revealed that children’s allocations were based on the how needy recipient was rather than which racial group the recipient was in.
The current study makes a significant contribution to the current literature by examining the process by which children from different cultures make fairness decisions, particularly seeking answers remaining questions regarding the unclear aspects of children’s fairness allocation decisions such as how children weigh need and race.

Author

• Jee Young Noh, California Baptist University
  Presenting Author