Pluralism in children's reasoning about social justice

To determine if children construe the fairness of societal practices as dependent on the implicit contract or definition of a situation, first (M = 6.8 years), third (M = 8.8 years), and fifth (M = 11.0 years) graders were questioned about 3 situations: one emphasizing learning or mastery, a contest, and a test. For each situation, they judged the fairness, alterability of fairness, effectiveness, and harmfulness of 3 teaching or coaching practices: having more able individuals help the less able, having individuals compete publicly, and having them perform independently. Children judged the fairness and effectiveness of each practice differently for each situation. They also recognized that unfair practices could become fair with participant consensus or over time, and that the potential of a practice to cause harm differed depending upon the context. These results were comparable for educational and athletic activities. In these respects, children's conceptions of the fairness of societal practices resemble those of philosophers who advocate pluralistic conceptions of justice.