期刊
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
卷 238, 期 -, 页码 -出版社
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105785
关键词
Fairness; Inequality; Status quo beliefs; Merit; Preschoolers; Equality
This study aimed to investigate the emergence of numerically sensitive fairness in children aged 4 to 8 years. The results showed that children of all ages demonstrated numerically sensitive fairness, but older children were more likely to accept inequality in a merit context.
One persistent and pernicious feature of outstanding social inequality is that even relatively extreme forms of inequality can be justified with reference to merit-based considerations. One key feature of fairness with respect to resource allocation is that it is numerically sensitive; greater (more extreme) inequalities are generally seen as less fair than less extreme ones. This work sought to document the emergence of numerically sensitive fairness in children aged 4 to 8 years. A total of 814-to 8-year-olds completed a series of within-participants fairness judgment trials in which they observed two characters receive either equitable or inequitable shares of resources-ranging from 50/50 (completely fair) to 0/100 (completely unfair)-in two contexts: one in which the two characters were described as working the same amount (equality context) and one in which one character was described as working harder than the other character (merit context). Children of all ages showed numerically sensitive fairness in the equality context. However, whereas younger children continued to show numerically sensitive fairness in the merit context, older children approved even relatively extreme inequalities when one person was described as working harder. This effect emerged with age, suggesting a double-edged sword to acquiring beliefs in merit based fairness; as children get older, they may begin to accept even relatively extreme forms of inequality when presented in a merit context. Results are discussed with respect to the acquisition of meritocracy as a normative belief of fairness.(c) 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
作者
我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。
推荐
暂无数据