Children and adolescents coordinate group and moral concerns within different goal contexts when allocating resources

Abstract

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.