Children Expect More Giving From Resource-Rich Than Resource-Poor Individuals

Ahl, R. E. and Dunham, Y. (2017), “Wealth Makes Many Friends”: Children Expect More Giving From Resource-Rich Than Resource-Poor Individuals. Child Dev. doi:10.1111/cdev.12922

Abstract: Young children show social preferences for resource-rich individuals, although few studies have explored the causes underlying such preferences. We evaluate the viability of one candidate cause: ***Children believe that resource wealth relates to behavior, such that they expect the resource rich to be more likely to materially benefit others (including themselves) than the resource poor***. In Studies 1 and 2 (ages 4–10), American children from predominantly middle-income families (n = 94) and Indian children from lower income families (n = 30) predicted that the resource rich would be likelier to share with others than the resource poor. In Study 3, American children (n = 66) made similar predictions in an incentivized decision-making task. The possibility that children's expectations regarding giving contribute to prowealth preferences is discussed.