Children in the United States and Peru Pay to Correct Gender‐Based Inequality

Abstract

We explore the developmental origins of intervention against gender‐based pay inequality in 4‐ to 9‐year‐old children in the United States (N = 123; Study 1) and Peru (N = 115; Study 2), two countries characterized by different norms surrounding gender pay equity. We presented children with scenarios that featured gender‐based pay inequality, and they could intervene at a cost to redistribute the earnings. We examined whether children favor equality or show gender bias in intervention depending on the direction of gender pay inequality. Across both societies, both girls and boys intervened against gender inequality regardless of its direction, a tendency that grew stronger with age. These findings suggest that despite developing in societies with existing gender pay inequalities, children strongly privilege equality.

Science resource inequalities viewed as less wrong when girls are disadvantaged

“…In other words, the advantaged group was not portrayed as having done anything wrong, nor was the disadvantaged group portrayed as being more deserving or worthy of resources aside from the sheer inequality presented. In this way, our findings differ from previous research showing that children fully rectify inequalities of pay between gender groups (Corbit et al., 2021 ), but that is not to say that children and adults alike are not thinking about issues of equality and equity when it comes to science supplies. Indeed, taken as a whole, participants gave more resources to the disadvantaged group, though younger participants (e.g., 5–6‐year‐olds) and male participants allocated more resources to the disadvantaged group when boys were disadvantaged than when girls were disadvantaged.…”

“…This reflects not only a gender disparity in resource allocation decisions, but may also be related to underlying assumptions that boys are more qualified and deserving of science resources than are girls. This is also counter to other research documenting that children rectify unequal gender‐based pay to the same extent regardless of the gender of the disadvantaged group (Corbit et al., 2021 ). Third, as with many assessments of bias, these differences were subtle (see Dunham et al., 2011 ).…”

“…While much of the extant research investigates individuals’ understanding of how to fairly allocate simple resources like stickers, candy, or tokens, recently, researchers have advocated for examining the development of decisions about broad inequalities of necessary resources, such as medicine, salaries, or school supplies (Corbit et al., 2021 ; Elenbaas et al., 2016 ; Rizzo et al., 2016 ). Previous research shows age‐related differences in how individuals consider fairness in some simple contexts while prioritizing their ingroup or the status quo in others.…”

“…Unlike race, gender is a commonly accepted social category marker used by adults for grouping individuals (e.g., “…line up boys and girls”) and for assigning play activities (e.g., dolls for girls and trucks for boys; softball for girls and baseball for boys) (Liben & Bigler, 2002 ). In one study, American and Peruvian children (e.g., 4–9‐year‐olds) viewed vignettes featuring unequal allocations of pay between boys and girls (Corbit et al., 2021 ). Both samples of children allocated resources to correct the unequal pay, thus rectifying the inequality.…”

The Development of Intergroup Cooperation: Children Show Impartial Fairness and Biased Care

“…Thus, it remains an important open question as to how children's concern for care and fairness may differ toward recipients that vary in terms of social categories such as gender and race. Previous work suggests that young children's resource allocation decisions show a preference for gender and race matched peers (Zinser et al, 1981;Dunham et al, 2011Dunham et al, , 2016Renno and Shutts, 2015), yet by middle childhood children are often willing to rectify group based inequality (Olson et al, 2011;Rizzo et al, 2018;Corbit et al, 2021). Future research that investigates the influence of social categories such as gender and race on children's concern for both care and fairness will provide important insight into how group-based prejudice can influence cooperative behavior.…”