Fairness as partiality aversion: the development of procedural justice.

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Behavioral Economics
• Social Justice

Background:

• Adults accept inequity if procedures are impartial, suggesting a value for procedural justice.
• It remains unclear if children also prioritize procedural justice over equal outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if 5- to 8-year-old children value procedural justice when distributing resources.
• To determine if children will create inequity using impartial procedures.

Main Methods:

• Children aged 5-8 years participated in experiments involving resource distribution.
• Procedures included impartial (equal chance) and partial (unequal chance) methods.
• Choices were made between impartial procedures, partial procedures, and discarding resources.

Main Results:

• Children preferred impartial procedures over partial ones, even if it meant creating inequity.
• Children chose to discard resources rather than use partial procedures to ensure equality.
• Older children exhibited a stronger aversion to partial procedures than younger children.

Conclusions:

• Children increasingly value procedural justice during middle childhood.
• Fairness concerns in children may focus more on avoiding partiality than inequity itself.