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Related Experiment Videos

Effort or outcome? Children's meritorious decisions.

Jee Young Noh1, Alexander D'Esterre1, Melanie Killen1

  • 1Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|October 12, 2018
PubMed
Summary
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As children age, their understanding of fairness evolves. They increasingly prioritize a peer's effort over their outcome when deciding how to allocate resources, demonstrating a developing sense of merit.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Moral Development
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Fairness and justice in resource allocation are key to moral development.
  • Merit, encompassing both effort and outcome, influences fairness decisions.
  • Limited research exists on children's prioritization of effort versus outcome in merit.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how children aged 3-10 weigh effort and outcome when making fairness decisions.
  • To determine if children prioritize being hard-working (effort) or productive (outcome).
  • To analyze the developmental trajectory of prioritizing effort over outcome in resource allocation.

Main Methods:

  • A study involving 100 children aged 3-10 years.
  • Children were presented with scenarios varying effort and outcome levels.
Keywords:
Distributive JusticeEffort and outcomeFairnessMeritMoral judgmentResource allocation

Related Experiment Videos

  • Resource allocation decisions were recorded to assess fairness judgments.

    • Main Results:

    • With increasing age, children prioritized effort over outcome when discrepancies existed.
    • Older children allocated more resources to peers demonstrating high effort.
    • Age influenced the incorporation of effort and outcome into fairness decisions, with a stronger focus on effort over time.

    Conclusions:

    • Children's fairness decisions become increasingly focused on effort rather than outcome as they mature.
    • Developmental changes in moral reasoning lead to a greater emphasis on exertion in resource allocation.
    • The study highlights a significant shift in children's understanding of merit and fairness with age.