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About this paper symposium
| Panel information |
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| Panel 7. Diversity, Equity & Social Justice |
| Paper #1 | |
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| The Impact of Perceived Financial Scarcity on Learning and Knowledge-building in Children and Adolescents | |
| Author information | Role |
| Ms. Jayantika Chakraborty, Clark University, United States | Presenting author |
| Alena Esposito, Clark University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Perceived financial scarcity, marked by feelings of “not having enough” (Mullainathan & Shafir, 2013), redirects attentional resources toward urgent financial concerns. Since attention is crucial for learning, financial scarcity could impact educational outcomes. Previous research has explored the impact of financial stress on academic achievement and motivation but has not directly measured learning performance. Additionally, a gap exists in understanding how development influences the relation between perceived financial scarcity and learning, specifically whether this relation is consistent, diminished, or more pronounced when comparing children and late adolescents. In Study 1, we assessed whether perceived financial scarcity influences learning outcomes in college students (n = 206, Mage = 19). Specifically, we examined scarcity’s impact on recall of directly provided facts (a facet of rote learning) and inferential learning through the mediating influences of fatigue and attention. Financial scarcity likely harms inferential learning more than recall due to the higher cognitive load required for inference-making (Chakraborty & Esposito, 2024). Our hypothesized path analysis model was: perceived financial scarcity → multidimensional fatigue → attentional control → inferential learning (but not recall). Participants completed an online anonymous survey using self-reported measures for perceived scarcity, fatigue, and attention. They also completed a validated paradigm for self-derivation (see Bauer et al., 2020) through which we derived their scores for inferential learning and recall of directly provided facts. Supporting our hypothesis, perceived financial scarcity was associated with higher levels of cognitive fatigue (β = .22, p < .001); cognitive fatigue was associated with diminished attentional control (β = −.51, p < .001); attentional control was associated with inferential learning (β = .21, p < .01) but not with rote learning (β = .09, p = .21). Perceived financial scarcity had a significant indirect effect on inferential learning (β = .02, p = .034) but no effect on recall of directly provided facts (β = −.01, p = .247). This study demonstrated that financial constraints burden students’ cognitive bandwidth through fatigue, challenging the mechanism through which students learn and create knowledge. Our findings underscore the pivotal role of attentional focus in facilitating effective learning by self-derivation, emphasizing the detrimental impact of compromised attention on students' ability to learn by self-deriving new knowledge—a core educational experience. In Study 2, currently underway, we examine the same relations in children aged 6-11 years (middle childhood, n = 100). Perspective-taking is a critical emergent outcome of middle childhood, providing an opportunity to examine perceptions of family income scarcity during the time in development when children are learning about scarcity and deprivation (Bengtsson & Arvidsson, 2011). We also examine the moderating influences of perceived social support to understand children’s strengths and resilience in the face of experiencing scarcity. Results will be discussed in light of developmental differences and similarities in perceiving scarcity, its effects on learning via fatigue and attention, the role of perceived social support in the case of children, and learning's malleability to structural stressors. In congruence with the theme of the symposium, the studies described here will collectively emphasize how perceived socioeconomic scarcity (a facet of socioeconomic inequality) affects cognitive and developmental outcomes in children and adolescents. |
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| Paper #2 | |
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| Privileged children support social change when they view inequalities as illegitimate and personally relevant | |
| Author information | Role |
| Laura Elenbaas, Ph.D., Purdue University, United States | Presenting author |
| Megan N. Norris, Purdue University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Jane Singman, Purdue University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Beliefs that justify and legitimize social inequalities emerge in childhood and contribute to ongoing harm across the lifespan (Heck et al., 2022; Hussak & Cimpian, 2015; Rhodes & Mandalaywala, 2017; Roberts, 2022). Given these early origins, it is vital to identify the processes that support children to think critically about their societies and consider positive social changes that reduce rather than reinforce existing inequalities (Amemiya et al., 2023; Heberle et al., 2020; Moran et al., 2024). Toward that goal, this study is a first step in testing a new theoretical model, the developmental social change model, to explain how children from more privileged social groups can develop the perceptions, beliefs, and early actions that support social change in contexts of social inequality (Elenbaas et al., 2020). Specifically, this study tested associations between 8- to 11-year-old self-identified American children’s perceptions of social inequalities, beliefs about social structures, and actions for social change in the context of inequalities affecting immigrants in the U.S. Overall, children (n = 114 of N = 220, 65% girls, 67% White, SSS M = 6.94, 4% first-generation, 11% second-generation) perceived moderate inequalities in resources (e.g., better jobs), power (e.g., make rules), and status (e., looked up to) between U.S.-born Americans and recent immigrants from six countries (Mexico, China, India, El Salvador, Nigeria, Poland), α = .74. They perceived that these inequalities had a mix of individual (e.g., effort) and structural (e.g., opportunities) causes, α = .70, and moderately more negative consequences for immigrants than for Americans, α = .69. As outlined in Figure 1, the larger the inequalities children perceived, the more they attributed them to structural causes, and the more negative consequences they saw for immigrants, the more unfair they believed that U.S. society is toward immigrants (legitimacy, e.g., don’t get what they deserve, α = .87) and the more they personally cared about what happens to immigrants in the U.S. (relevancy, e.g., whether things are fair for them, α = .91). Finally, children who personally cared more about what happens to immigrants (relevancy) reported higher interest in allyship (e.g., work together to make things better, α = .80) and donated more desirable resources that they could have kept (i.e., toys) to a Community Center helping immigrant families get settled in their neighborhood. Coding of children’s peer education (YouTube videos teaching other Americans about what life is like for immigrant families) and platform support (dividing speaking spots at a school assembly between immigrant and American students) is ongoing. In short, American children supported social change to address social inequalities affecting immigrants in the U.S. when they saw current social systems as illegitimate (unfair) and saw the issue as personally relevant to them. Overall, this study provides new evidence of when and why children from more privileged social groups begin to challenge the systems that benefit them, advancing developmental scientists’ understanding of middle childhood as a window of opportunity when some children move from noticing to questioning social inequalities, and pointing to new opportunities for targeted intervention. |
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| Paper #3 | |
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| Class is in session: Social class discrimination and academic achievement among adolescents | |
| Author information | Role |
| Zena R. Mello, Ph.D., San Francisco State University, United States | Presenting author |
| Sean Hennigan, San Francisco State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Adam Suri, San Francisco State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Busra Dogru, San Francisco State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Manuel Nicolas Abundis-Morales, San Francisco State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Jo Nisa Cabilogan, San Francisco State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Jay Michael Espinoza, San Francisco State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Christopher Garcia, San Francisco State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Vani Kakar, San Francisco State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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We examined how social class discrimination was associated with academic achievement among adolescents. This form of discrimination refers to the bias one experiences because they are disadvantaged in social class (Langhout et al., 2009, Liu et al., 2004). For adolescents, social class includes familial income, education, and occupation (Deimer et al., 2013). Research has shown that as children transition into adolescence, their understanding of social class and inequality becomes increasingly complex (Mistry et al., 2015). Despite evidence that adolescents who are disadvantaged in social class have lower academic achievement and a higher rate of dropping out of school than their advantaged counterparts (Sirin, 2005), there is limited understanding of how the bias one experiences because of being disadvantaged in social class relates to academic outcomes among adolescents. To address this knowledge gap, we posed the following research questions: How is social class discrimination associated with academic achievement among adolescents? If an association is observed, how does it vary by age? Cross-sectional data were collected through anonymous surveys administered in two public high schools in the Western United States. Participants included 1,559 adolescents (Mage = 16.16, SDage = 1.20). Social class discrimination was measured with a 13-item scale (α = 0.95) that included the prompt “How often have you experienced each of the following because of the money, schooling, or jobs your parents have?” A sample item was “you were called insulting names.” Responses ranged from 1 (rarely) to 5 (often). Academic achievement was measured with grade point average. Social class was assessed with maternal education (M = 2.81, SD = 1.58) and paternal education (M = 2.77, SD = 1.62). Values ranged from no high school diploma to a doctorate. Adolescents have been shown to reliably report maternal education (Diemer et al., 2013). The sample included mothers and fathers who had earned a college degree (45.40%, 44.10%, respectively) and those who had earned less than a college degree (54.60%, 55.90%, respectively). Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted (see Table 1). Block 1 included covariates, such as social class, age, gender, race/ethnicity, and school. Block 2 added social class discrimination. Results indicated that social class discrimination was negatively associated with academic achievement (see middle column). Block 3 introduced an interaction term between social class discrimination and age. Simple slopes analysis revealed that the interaction was significant for younger adolescents (< age 15) but not for older adolescents (> age 17). This interaction is displayed in Figure 1. In conclusion, our study provides evidence that adolescents’ experiences with social class discrimination are negatively associated with academic achievement. We also showed that this association varies between younger and older adolescents. These findings suggest that addressing and reducing social class discrimination could improve academic achievement among adolescents. |
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| Paper #4 | |
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| Helping hands: Parent-child discussions of helping people experiencing economic hardship | |
| Author information | Role |
| Katherine M. Griffin, Ph.D, University of Notre Dame, United States | Presenting author |
| Alyson Young, Dartmouth College, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Londyn Connelly, South Bend, Indiana, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Rashmita S. Mistry, University of California Los Angeles, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Middle childhood is a time when children make major strides in the development of moral thinking (Killen & Dahl, 2021) and their reasoning about economic inequality (Dickinson, et al., 2023). We know generally that children in this age range want to rectify situations where resources are unfairly distributed (Elenbaas et al., 2022), yet they often offer more individualistic attributions for poverty (Dickinson et al., 2023). We know little about how the adults in their lives discuss helping individuals facing economic hardship. In this qualitative study, we explored how early elementary school-aged children and their parents discussed issues of helping individuals and families facing economic hardship. Participants were 26 mostly middle- and upper-class parent-child dyads living in rural New England. Children in the study were in kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th grades. Data were collected as part of a larger project using a parent interview and a novel parent-child discussion protocol– parents and their children watched a short video on economic hardship together and then discussed what they saw. From the parent interviews, we learned that conversations about helping others are often sparked by participation in events such as donation drives at schools and in the community. However, oftentimes these donation drives were missed opportunities for families, where parents reported not having in-depth discussions of the problem of poverty, its causes, and at times not even the details of the organizations benefiting from the drives. For instance, one mother shared: I think we don't necessarily initiate conversations at home, but because he's exposed to these different food drives and things, he'll bring a little slip home. And we'll say, " ... Oh, we have some coats that don't fit anymore. Let's grab those, and you can bring those into school and participate in that event." So, I think he's aware of it… but we don't necessarily directly see the programs. This supports our overall study finding that there are a number of aspects of helping those living in poverty that parents rarely or never discussed, including the causes of poverty and how to more specifically help individuals or families in need. We posit, following Developmental Intergroup Theory, that these omissions are important, as they point to areas where children might be confused, or be left to draw upon more stereotyped cultural narratives about the causes of wealth and poverty (Bigler & Liben, 2007). Throughout their interviews, parents also emphasized the importance of instilling values, such as empathy, during these discussions. For instance, another mother shared, “I try to do this with all my boys, but I think it starts really young, which is that I want them to be empathetic, especially because they're boys.” When observed in parent-child discussions, conversations about helping others varied tremendously by the grade level of the child: kindergarten discussions were parent-led and definitional, whereas 4th-grade discussions were more balanced in terms of initiation and more nuanced. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for researchers, caregivers, and educators. |
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Perception of socioeconomic inequalities and its impact on developmental outcomes among children and adolescents
Submission Type
Paper Symposium
Description
| Session Title | Perception of socioeconomic inequalities and its impact on developmental outcomes among children and adolescents |