Goldstone Research Unit
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
2012
Publication Source
Developmental Psychology
Volume
48
Issue
2
Start Page
492
Last Page
498
DOI
10.1037/a0026598
Abstract
Classic studies in developmental psychology demonstrate a relatively late development of equity, with children as old as 6 or even 8–10 years failing to follow the logic of merit—that is, giving more to those who contributed more. Following Piaget (1932), these studies have been taken to indicate that judgments of justice develop slowly and follow a stagelike progression, starting off with simple rules (e.g., equality: everyone receives the same) and only later on in development evolving into more complex ones (e.g., equity: distributions match contributions). Here, we report 2 experiments with 3- and 4-year-old children (N = 195) that contradict this constructivist account. Our results demonstrate that children as young as 3 years old are able to take merit into account by distributing tokens according to individual contributions but that this ability may be hidden by a preference for equality.
Copyright/Permission Statement
© 2011 American Psychological Association. This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.
Keywords
fairness, cooperation, development, morality, equity
Recommended Citation
Baumard, N., Mascaro, O., & Chevallier, C. (2012). Preschoolers Are Able to Take Merit Into Account When Distributing Goods. Developmental Psychology, 48 (2), 492-498. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0026598
Included in
Child Psychology Commons, Developmental Psychology Commons, Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons, Social Psychology Commons
Date Posted: 18 December 2014
This document has been peer reviewed.