About this session

Thursday, 11:50 AM - 1:20 PM

Recognition of and Responses to Unfair Treatment and Inequality Across Childhood

Unfair treatment and inequalities between social groups are present in children’s lives. Investigating factors that enable children to recognize and respond equitably to such treatment and inequalities is critical for understanding children’s capacities as agents of positive societal change. This symposium will present novel research on children’s recognition of and responses to unfair treatment in diverse social contexts.
Presentation 1 investigated 5- to 8-year-olds’ use of verbal and nonverbal cues to understand teachers’ group-based expectations and unfair treatment. Children integrated teachers’ verbal and nonverbal cues to infer expectations about different groups. With age, children viewed teachers’ biases as more unfair.
Presentation 2 examined 6- to 9-year-olds’ reasoning about and responses to inequalities that persist after removing historical structural barriers. Two studies showed that providing information about intergenerational disadvantage supports children’s abilities to rectify and reason structurally about present-day inequalities.
Presentation 3 examined 8- to 17-year-olds’ subjective understanding of their positions in the economic social hierarchy. Adolescents rated their position lower than did children, and low-SES participants rated their position lower than did high-SES participants. Open-ended responses highlighted children’s awareness of key factors that shape socioeconomic standing.
Presentation 4 examined 8- to 14-year-olds’ expectations of peer confrontations of gender bias in science contexts. Adolescents, but not children, expected peers that were advantaged by bias to be less likely to confront than peers that were disadvantaged by bias.
In sum, this symposium will discuss children’s abilities to meaningfully contribute to societal change by recognizing and responding to unfair treatment and inequality.

Paper #1
Title	Children integrate verbal and non-verbal cues to infer differential expectations of groups
Presenting author	Kaila Scott-Charles, University of Chicago, United States

Paper #2
Title	Children's reasoning about and responses to inequalities that persist after removing historical structural barriers
Presenting author	Jamie Amemiya, Occidental College, United States

Paper #3
Title	Children’s and Adolescents’ Perceptions of Subjective Socioeconomic Status in Türkiye
Presenting author	Buse Gönül, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey

Paper #4
Title	Children’s and Adolescents’ Expectations of Peer Confrontations of Gender Bias in Science Contexts
Presenting author	Marley B. Forbes, University of Maryland, College Park, United States

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Session chair
Marley Bruce Forbes, University of Maryland, College Park, United States

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