Children Employ Wealth Cues When Predicting Others' Sharing

Previous research has found that even young children accurately assign wealth labels (e.g., rich or poor) to real-world wealth symbols, such as pictures of houses. However, it is unclear whether children spontaneously consider individuals' wealth status when predicting how they will behave toward others. In Study 1, children (n = 100, ages 4-5 and 7-8) predicted that residents of rich houses would be likelier to share toys than residents of poor houses. This effect was driven by children who viewed rich-house residents as owning more toys. Study 2 (n = 50) suggested that such children were not merely associating attractive objects with attractive behaviors. Rather, it seems that they possessed a conceptual understanding of wealth, which they used to make behavioral predictions. The belief that the rich are likely to share may relate to broader wealth-based preferences and may be elicited more frequently in children who spontaneously notice others' wealth status.