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The Development of Distributive Justice Orientations: Contextual Influences on Children's Resource Allocations
Author(s) -
Sigelman Carol K.,
Waitzman Kara A.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1991.tb01611.x
Subject(s) - distributive justice , psychology , equity (law) , perspective (graphical) , economic justice , norm (philosophy) , social psychology , distributive property , child development , developmental psychology , microeconomics , economics , political science , mathematics , artificial intelligence , computer science , pure mathematics , law
Previous research on the development of distributive justice decisions, by centering largely on situations in which rewards for work productivity are to be allocated, has shed little light on the child's developing ability to select the justice norm most appropriate to the situation. Children 5, 9, and 13 years of age were asked to allocate resources and judge the fairness of alternative decision rules in situations to which either equity, equality, or need norms were especially applicable. As predicted, young children were insensitive to contextual information, generally preferring to allocate resources equally, whereas older children tailored their decisions appropriately to the situation. The fact that developmental trends differed from situation to situation points to the importance of adopting a contextual perspective on the development of distributive justice orientations.