About this paper symposium

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Panel information
Panel 7. Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Paper #1
How Attachment Representations and Emotional Availability Impact Children’s Punishability Judgment of Robin Hood
Author information	Role
Samuel Essler, Ph.D., : Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany	Presenting author
Markus Paulus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Acts of redistributive justice such as taking from the rich to benefit the poor as embodied by Robin Hood constitute a controversial social transaction in response to economic inequalities. While redistributing resources tends to the well-being of the poor, it also violates ownership claims of the rich. How children view this act depends on the importance ascribed to the furthering of others’ well-being. Following attachment theory, securely attached children have experienced caregivers’ responsivity to their emotional needs and should consequently value the improvement of others’ welfare to a greater extent than insecurely attached children. Thus, securely attached children’s normative stances should show a higher appreciation of Robin Hood than those of insecurely attached children (Hypothesis 1). Relatedly, children having experienced high caregivers’ emotional availability should value others’ needs to a greater extent than children with less emotionally available caregivers and should therefore appreciate Robin Hood to a greater degree (Hypothesis 2). This is the first longitudinal study to date that relies on attachment representations and caregiver emotional availability to shed light on interindividual differences in children’s normative stances regarding redistributive justice. We assessed subsamples of 176 mother-child dyads from Western Europe at four measurement points within a larger longitudinal project. The sample was predominantly White from a mostly middle to high socioeconomic background. At T1 [mean (age): 1.01 years, n = 120, 53% girls], children completed the Strange Situation Procedure (Ainsworth, 1978). At T2 [mean (age): 2.01 years, n = 93, 53% girls] we coded maternal emotional availability (i.e., sensitivity and structuring) from mother-child free play interactions (Biringen, 2008). To control for cognitive abilities, children completed the language comprehension scales of the German SETK-2 (Grimm, 2000). Mothers completed the German MWT-B (Lehrl, 2005) assessing verbal intelligence. At T3 [mean (age): 5.43 years, n = 133, 57% girls], children underwent the Attachment Story Completion Task (Gloger-Tippelt & König, 2009). At T4 [mean (age): 6.99 years, n = 104, 51% girls], children witnessed protagonists performing a Robin Hood (i.e., taking resources from the rich and giving them to the poor) and a Matthew (i.e., the opposite; control trial) redistribution of novel necessary resources. We recorded children’s acceptability judgments and judgments of deserved punishment. Results of a multiple linear regression show that securely attached 1-year-olds assign less punishment to Robin Hood at 7 years than avoidantly attached 1-year-olds assign at 7 years (b = 0.528, p = 0.043). Higher maternal structuring at 2 years predicts less assigned punishment to Robin Hood at 7 years (b = -0.192, p = 0.024). In addition, higher child language comprehension at 2 years predicts more assigned punishment to Robin Hood at 7 years (b = -0.035, p = 0.049). Predictors regarding Robin Hood acceptability judgments and the control trial (i.e., Matthew) were non-significant. These findings demonstrate how early attachment representations and caregiver structuring abilities bear on children’s weighing of others’ welfare and ownership concerns in the context of redistributive justice half a decade later.

Paper #2
Attachment and Robin Hood: Are Securely Attached Children More Likely to Endorse Robin Hood Actions?
Author information	Role
Howard Steele, Ph.D., The New School for Social Research, United States	Presenting author
Abstract
This is a report on whether young children (aged 3-8 years) with signs of a secure attachment are more likely to endorse Robin Hood actions (taking from the wealthy and giving to the poor) taking into account colorism and variations in SES status. Children across the globe from varied populations are affected by wealth disparities and economic racism in different ways. Against this background, the current work investigates correlations among children’s’ social and socioeconomic contexts, their attachment patterns, as well as with their own prosocial attitudes in response to a storytelling task including decision making wherein equality is established through economic redistribution (the ‘Robin Hood Task’ [RHT]) (after Essler & Paulus, 2021). Within the RHT, implicit cueing of dolls’ skin color and ‘rich’ or ‘poor’ clothing were independent variables in children’s prosocial beliefs about equity-based resource reallocation. Children’s attitudes in the RHT will be compared against their real-world behavior when asked to “donate” some of their participant stipend to a “child in need.” In addition, questions about essentialism or social constructivism regarding the origins of wealth are being put to the children. Participants in this 2-phase pilot study were American children (N=24), ages 3-8 in Phase 1 (n=11), and 5-8 in Phase 2 (n= 13). In Phase 1, 5 male-identified and 6 female-identified participants met with investigators on Zoom to complete the Attachment Story Completion Task (ASCT) (Bretherton & Oppenheim, 2003; Bretherton, Ridgeway, et al., 1990; Ganz, 2020; Splaun et al., 2010), and the RHT by responding to videos of the researchers introducing the story tasks using Playmobil Dolls. In Phase 2, seven male-identified and five female-identified children, and one non-binary identified child met on Zoom to trial innovative virtual versions of these tasks, with the ASCT story stems involving pictures of a bunny rabbit family, and the RHT displayed through an interactive/moveable picture-based storytelling game. Correlations between attachment patterns using the ACST and responses to the RHT were examined. Results in Phase 1 include a trend of older children in the sample with greater attachment security being more inclined to endorse equity-establishing resource redistribution (taking from ‘rich’ to give to ‘poor’) within the RHT, and being more willing to donate some or all of their own $25 prize money. Phase 2 included an updated illustrated version of both the Attachment Story Stem Task and the Robin Hood task, provided findings that replicate Phase 1, i.e. children with greater evidence of attachment security were significantly more likely to endorse the Robin Hood action, and were significantly more willing to donate their prize money. The 24 children studied to date come from families where parents hold advanced university degrees and are economically well off, which may explain the near universal endorsement of ‘social constructivism’ as the origin of wealth, as opposed to ‘essentialism’. Given the sample size, colorism-linked findings are ambiguous. Discussion will include reflections on the findings and protocol, plans for further research, and wider world implications of the results.

Paper #3
Influences of Age, Gender, SES, and Parental Ethnotheories on Singaporean Children’s Wealth Essentialist Beliefs
Author information	Role
Yue Yu, Ph.D., Centre for Research in Child Development, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University Singapore Centre for Character and Citizenship Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore	Presenting author
Sheryn Sim Sue Ning, Department of Psychology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Young children often believe that certain categories of people differ in fundamental yet unobservable ways, a belief known as “social essentialism” (Rhodes & Mandalaywala, 2017). These essentialist beliefs are prevalent across cultures in early childhood and can contribute to the development of stereotypes and prejudices. This study investigates children’s wealth essentialist beliefs—the notion that the rich and poor are inherently different—and explores how these beliefs may be shaped by the child’s age, gender, and family socialization. For the family socialization, we examined the effects of family socio-economic status (SES), parental ethnotheories regarding exposing children to social issues, and the interaction between the two. The study was conducted in Singapore, a country where traditional values of meritocracy and social mobility have come under increasing scrutiny. Ninety-one Singaporean children (51 boys, Mage=8.1y, Rangeage=4.2-10.9y) and one of their parents participated in this study as part of a larger project conducted by the Developing Belief Network. During an online interview, children responded to four wealth essentialism questions, such as whether people are born rich or poor, and whether it is possible for poor people to become rich. Parents completed an online survey reporting their subjective SES and ethnotheories, including six items which we used to measure their tendencies to expose their children to social issues (e.g., “My child should be aware of social issues”). Results from mixed-effects regression models revealed that boys held stronger wealth essentialist beliefs than girls, and these beliefs decreased with age. This age-related decline was significant for children from low-SES families, but not for those from high-SES backgrounds (Figure 1). SES did not significantly predict children’s wealth essentialist beliefs or parents’ ethnotheories about exposing children to social issues. However, SES moderated the relationship between parental ethnotheories and children’s wealth essentialism (Figure 2). For high-SES families, parents who tend to expose their children to social issues had children with stronger wealth essentialism beliefs. Such correlation was not significant in low-SES families. Taken together, these results suggest that children’s wealth essentialist beliefs are influenced by family context in complex ways. While these beliefs tend to decline with age, this decrease is less pronounced in children from high-SES families, particularly when parents tend to expose them to social issues. This raises the possibility that introducing social issues to children too early or in an unreflective manner (e.g., using generalized language or categorical statements) may inadvertently reinforce the perception of SES divisions, especially for children from privileged backgrounds who may be more inclined to essentialize wealth as a way of justifying or maintaining their elevated social status. It is also possible that discussions of social issues may prompt children to scrutinize the structural inequalities that hinder social mobility, a critical reflection that may occur more readily in high-SES families who have the privilege to engage in such conversations at a deeper level. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of carefully framing discussions of social issues with children to avoid reinforcing harmful stereotypes or social barriers.

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