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Children's resource taking varies with experimentally manipulated relative status
Chana Berelejis1, Oded Ritov2, Jan Engelmann2
1Department of Psychology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Scientific Reports
|February 26, 2026
Summary
Children
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
Background:
- Children's resource-taking behavior is influenced by social dynamics.
- Understanding how relative status and gender impact sharing and taking is crucial for developmental research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how relative social status and gender affect resource allocation in young children.
- To determine if children's taking behavior is more sensitive to social status or task performance.
Main Methods:
- Two preregistered studies involving 4-8-year-olds.
- Children competed in a 'Where's Waldo?' task, then decided how many tokens to take from a peer.
- Relative status was manipulated (winner/loser) or status was equal (non-social context).
Main Results:
- Children in low relative status (losers) took more resources than those in high relative status (winners).
- Boys took more resources than girls when status was equal; this gender difference disappeared when status was unequal.
- Taking behavior was calibrated to social status, not solely to performance outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Young children demonstrate sensitivity to relative social status in resource allocation.
- Gender differences in resource taking emerge specifically under conditions of equal social status.
- Findings highlight the early development of social comparison and status-driven behaviors.
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