Equity or Equality in Children's Allocation of Reward to Other Persons?

Abstract

LEVENTHAL, GERALD S.; POPP, ARTHUR L.; and SAWYER, LLEWLEE. Equity or Equality in Children's Allocation of Reward to Other Persons? CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1973, 44, 753-763. It has been suggested that preschool children prefer to divide equally rather than follow an equity norm when distributing rewards. Results from 2 studies contradicted this view by demonstrating that preschoolers often do give higher reward to the better of 2 performers. The tendency to give more to the better performer appeared stronger in boys than in girls. However, there was little difference between boys and girls when the children believed a female adult would evaluate the appropriateness of their distribution of the reward.