Children's beliefs about group inequality in a made-up world

Children's beliefs about group inequality in a made-up world

CARE Lab (Wake Forest University)

Who Can Participate

The child is between the ages of 5 years and 10 years.

What Happens

In the study, your child will hear a story about two made-up groups. Then, your child will be shown a series of scenarios about the two groups and asked what they think about these groups by clicking on images on the screen.

What We're Studying

Previous studies have found that children prefer groups that are higher status to those that are lower status. However, when children learn that unfair rules lead to group inequality, children show less bias in favor of the high-status group. The present study seeks to evaluate whether teaching children about the reasons for social inequality will be equally effective if children are members of the groups, themselves. This whole study will occur in a made-up world where children learn about two novel groups, the Toogits and the Flurps. Depending on the children’s group assignment, children will be told that they are also a member of the Toogits or the Flurps. We will evaluate if certain types of explanations for group inequality can lead children from higher-status groups to show less bias, view hierarchies as less fair, and share more with lower-status groups. By exploring these ideas, we hope to find better ways to teach kids about fairness and equality.

Duration

30 minutes

Compensation

Participants will be compensated with a $10 Amazon.com gift card once we verify your consent video and that your child is in the correct age range. Consent videos need to show the parent and the child who is participating. Only one gift card per child is available. Gift cards will be sent within one week after the completion of the study.

This study is conducted by Katharine Scott (contact: kscott@wfu.edu).

Would you like to participate in this study?