AGE DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTION OF JUSTICE : EFFECTS OF MERIT AND SOCIAL CATEGORIZATION

Abstract

An allocation is considered to be fair when one's outcome is proportional to his merit. Western research in distributive justice claimed that children do not understand such equity before 13. In addition, cross-cultural research disclosed that allocations by even Asians adults depart from the prescription of the rule of proportional equity. To uncover the understanding of rules of distributive justice, this study employed scenarios depicting allocations made according to the rules of proportional equity, ordinal equity (more to more meritorious person), and equality (share and share alike). Allocators varied in their merit (low vs. high) and social categorization (out-group vs. in-group). Chinese participants (N - 384) of 5 to 20 years of age judged the fairness of the allocation as well as competence and attractiveness of the allocator. As hypothesized, results showed that the 10-year-olds can understand the distinction between the three rules, and that such capacity is most accessible in the condition of low meritorious out-group allocator. This demonstration leads to a response distortion explanation of the deviations from the rule of equity with Asian adults. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.