Developmental patterns and computational mechanisms of school-aged children’s fairness-related decision making under social comparison

1901/01/01 by Shujing Wang, Zhong Yang, Kesong Hu +6 · 6 citations
Arts and Humanities · Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Archaeological and Historical Studies #Cognition #Cognitive psychology #Cultural Differences and Values #Developmental psychology #Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies #Historical Studies of Medieval Iberia #Medieval Architecture and Archaeology #Neuroscience #Psychology #Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment #Social decision making #Theory of mind

paper · doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106047

published in Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 247, 106047 (Elsevier BV)

openalex publication_date 2024/08/24 · openalex created_date 2024/08/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25

Abstract

The developmental patterns and computational mechanisms underlying the impact of unfair offers and social comparisons on school-aged children's fairness-related decision making remain unclear. To address this, we recruited 190 children aged 8 to 12 years (52.1% female) in a multi-responder ultimatum game. Results revealed an age-related decline in children's tendency to reject unfair offers, partially mediated by emotions, alongside a slight increase in rejecting inferior social comparisons. Computational modeling identified two distinct motivations guiding children's rejection behavior: inequity aversion and inferior social comparison avoidance. Furthermore, there was significant variability in responses to superior social comparisons, with some children displaying aversion and others seeking. Our refined model enhances the explanatory power of inequity aversion theory in complex multi-player social scenarios, validating and refining existing theories. In addition, the exploration of superior social comparison tendencies reveals individual heterogeneity, enriching our understanding of children's social comparisons. These findings contribute to elucidating the developmental patterns and internal mechanisms of children's socialization processes, offering implications for promoting their social adaptation and mental health.

Citations

• Etude longitudinale a partir d'un fichier de medecine generale, d'une cohorte de femmes suivies depuis l'age de 45 ans : le praticien, sa patiente et la menopause
• “I had so much it didn’t seem fair”: Eight-year-olds reject two forms of inequity
• A Theory of Social Comparison Processes
• The developmental foundations of human fairness

Cited by

• Extrinsic incentives can shape inequity aversion in primary school children
• Being the Best, or With the Best: A Developmental Examination of Children's Choices in a Social Comparison Dilemma. [europepmc]
• Tracing socioeconomic inequalities in children's and adolescent's mental health: longitudinal study findings from 2017 to 2024. [europepmc]

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• Children's perceptions of social class discrimination: The role of age and situational factors in evaluating fairness