CHILDREN PRIORITIZE WEALTH OVER RACE IN PEER INCLUSION CONTEXTS

Abstract

This study investigated children’s social biases based on race and wealth differentials. A cohort of 103 Singaporean Chinese participants (age range: 4-7 years, Mage = 5.79) reported whether they thought a group of friends would choose a peer to join them based on race (Chinese or Indian) or wealth (high or low wealth). Children were asked to make a prediction about inclusion, to rate the strength of their prediction, and to share their reasoning behind their prediction. Over three blocks, participants had to make a choice of friendship based on race similarity, wealth similarity, or choose between race and wealth. The race similarity block revealed that participants prioritized same-race friendships. The wealth similarity block demonstrated that children prioritized high wealth as a basis for inclusion. When race and wealth were independently manipulated and participants had to choose between both, participants prioritized wealth when the group was high-wealth and race when the group was low-wealth. Reasoning data in support of participants’ preferences were submitted to exploratory analysis. Results demonstrated that children’s reasoning for their choices varied based on the wealth status of the group. Findings demonstrate that children’s early biases are flexible and dependent on particular characteristics of social groups.