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Procedural justice in children: Preschoolers accept unequal resource distributions if the procedure provides equal

Patricia Grocke1, Federico Rossano1, Michael Tomasello1

  • 1Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|August 11, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Preschoolers understand fairness in how things are done, not just the results. Even young children can recognize and react to unfair procedures during resource allocation games.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Behavioral Economics

Background:

  • Equitable resource distribution is often impossible.
  • Individuals seek fair procedures when outcomes are unequal.
  • Understanding procedural justice in early childhood is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate 5-year-olds' sensitivity to procedural justice.
  • To examine children's responses to fair versus unfair allocation procedures.
  • To determine if preschool-aged children grasp procedural fairness.

Main Methods:

  • A resource allocation game was designed for 32 triads of 5-year-olds.
  • Children allocated unequal rewards using a fair or unfair 'wheel of fortune'.
  • Interactions were observed, and post-game interviews were conducted.

Main Results:

  • Children using the unfair wheel altered game rules and perceived the procedure as unfair.
  • Children using the fair wheel accepted both outcomes and procedures.
  • Preschoolers demonstrated sensitivity to procedural justice, not just distributive justice.

Conclusions:

  • Young children possess a sense of procedural justice.
  • Fair procedures are key to acceptance, even with unequal outcomes.
  • Early childhood is a critical period for developing concepts of fairness.

Keywords:
DevelopmentEqualityFairnessGroup decision-makingPreschoolersProcedural justiceResource distribution

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