Coordinating complex social and moral concerns when allocating resources is
a key issue in late childhood and early adolescence. This study explored resource
allocation in three goal contexts that required children to focus to differing degrees on
moral and group concerns. Children (9 – 11-years, Mage = 9.84, n = 190) and
adolescents ...
Coordinating complex social and moral concerns when allocating resources is
a key issue in late childhood and early adolescence. This study explored resource
allocation in three goal contexts that required children to focus to differing degrees on
moral and group concerns. Children (9 – 11-years, Mage = 9.84, n = 190) and
adolescents (14 – 16-years, Mage = 14.92, n = 154) were informed their school peer
group held an in-group norm (competition, cooperation). Participants allocated
resources between their in-group and an out-group within one of three goal contexts
(prosocial, learning-focused, group-focused). Participants allocated in favor of their
in-group to achieve a prosocial goal but attenuated this when the goal was focused on
learning and cooperation. Adolescents, more than children, reasoned about the goals
of resource allocation to justify their decisions. From 9-years-old, children begin to
coordinate peer group norms and goal information when deciding how to allocate
resources within intergroup contexts.
