We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Do needs always come first? Children's allocation decisions in a necessary resource distribution task.
- Authors
Zhou, Shuangzhu; Peng, Qingfeng; Liu, Tingxin; Zhang, Jing
- Abstract
The aim of the current study was to explore whether children's allocation would vary according to whether the recipient who had a shortage of necessities had different merit (outcome: contribution more or contribution less, effort: laziness or diligence) when distributing necessary resources. Children aged 4–11 years (N = 345) were introduced to allocated resource in a conflict situation (need vs. merit). Findings demonstrated that 6–7-year-olds, but not 4–5-year-olds, allocated more resources to recipients in need. When the recipient's contribution conflicted with need, 6–11-year-olds were more likely to consider need rather than contribution. However, when the recipient in need contributed less because of laziness, children consider less of the recipient's needs and turn to allocating more resources to the recipient who is diligent. These results indicated that as children age, they pay more attention to a recipient's needs; moreover, their allocation to those in need will be influenced by the recipient's perceived effort.
- Subjects
LAZINESS; DILIGENCE; SCARCITY; AGE; FAIRNESS
- Publication
Current Psychology, 2023, Vol 42, Issue 11, p9372
- ISSN
1046-1310
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s12144-021-02234-0