Children’s subjective socioeconomic status and their sharing decisions: The role of the recipient’s neediness

This study examined the association between children’s subjective socioeconomic status, their age, and their sharing decision with a needy recipient versus a recipient on whom no information about need had been provided. Children aged 7–12 (N = 222, 50% girls, M_Age= 9.60, SD = 1.52) participated in an experiment where they could share tokens with either a needy (poor) child or with one on whom no information about need had been provided. Results revealed that children’s sharing increased as a function of age, and that children shared more resources with a needy recipient than with one whose neediness was unknown. Children’s subjective socioeconomic status did not directly predict their sharing. However, the three-way interaction between children’s subjective socioeconomic status, recipient’s neediness and age was significant: only among older children (but not among younger ones), the higher they perceived their own socioeconomic status, the more they shared with a needy recipient. When older participants did not know how needy the recipient was, a higher subjective socioeconomic status was not associated with more sharing. The findings underscore the importance of the interaction between children’s subjective perception of their own status, and that of the recipient with whom they share, in shaping their sharing decisions.