Advancing developmental intergroup perspectives on social class

Abstract

Globally, children and adolescents are growing up in societies marked by stark economic inequality. Along with a robust body of scholarship highlighting the importance of economic security for children's health and well-being, researchers are beginning to examine how children and adolescents think and feel about their own and others' economic circumstances or social class position (Ruck et al., 2019). Reflecting diverse theoretical traditions, recent studies have, for example, investigated social class identity (Destin, 2019), stereotypes about the rich and poor (Sigelman, 2012), moral concerns for distributive justice (Elenbaas et al., 2020), and action for community and social change (Diemer et al., 2020). To further advance and motivate developmental intergroup perspectives on social class, in this article, we (1) define social class, (2) evaluate whether evidence about social class aligns with predictions from developmental intergroup theory (DIT) and social identity development theory (SIDT), (3) demonstrate how complementary insights from these perspectives can be integrated to advance research on social class, and ( 4) highlight what is unique about the study of social class from a developmental intergroup perspective.

“This kid looks like he has everything”: 3‐ to 11‐year‐old children’s concerns for fairness and social preferences when peers differ in social class and race

“…Reflecting these shifts in social group preferences, young children distributed more resources to White peers, especially if they were also rich, and reasoned about their own personal preferences (e.g., "I like him more") but participants in middle childhood distributed more to rich peers and reasoned about their social class group preferences (e.g., "[She] has better stuff and I like that"). One interpretation is that, by middle childhood, participants were becoming aware of broader US national narratives that esteem the rich and chastise the poor (Mistry et al, 2021). Another interpretation is that children's early concepts of social class were primarily material.…”

“…For instance, US children's social class stereotypes change meaningfully in both scope and content between middle and late childhood (Mistry et al, 2021), and it is well established that White children's racial prejudice peaks in middle childhood (Raabe & Beelmann, 2011). Moreover, recent studies suggest that late childhood is an important developmental period when children's greater awareness of equity issues in their own communities enables them to begin to see parallels with distributive justice issues that they can personally address (Elenbaas & Mistry, 2021).…”

Children's developing understanding of economic inequality and their place within it

“…As Mistry et al (2021) observed, representations of social class groups are culturally embedded within societies. Language, news reports, drama and humour convey rich, but often complex and contradictory, information about social class so most members of society will be familiar with these representations.…”

“…Once children are aware of social class, they are motivated to identify with positively distinct social class groups (Mistry et al, 2021), and the need to maintain a positive social identity can then result in prejudice and discrimination towards outgroups. Very little research has investigated the development of inter‐class prejudice in children (Mistry et al, 2021), but young children (4–6 years) demonstrate a preference for friendship with wealthier children (Shutts et al, 2016), and older children (8–14 years) anticipate that social class groups will favour members of their own social class (Elenbaas & Killen, 2019). Friendship preferences lead to exclusion and low‐income children are particularly likely to experience exclusion as they lack the financial resources to participate in many activities (Ridge, 2011).…”

Children’s Perspectives on Fairness and Inclusivity in the Classroom

“…Children’s perceptions of teacher bias involve multiple forms of judgment including the role of authority for decision making, as well as the recognition of unfair treatment that results from group norms and social inequalities. Recently, research has examined when children view group-level social inequalities as unfair and whether they desire to rectify such disparities (Elenbaas, 2019; Mistry et al, 2021). These data are relevant for understanding how children perceive classroom bias and for creating inclusive classrooms.…”