Wang, Ya Meng, Zhao, Shu, Lyu, Sa Sa, Wang, Zuo Jun, Wang, Deming, and Chan, Kai Qin (2025) Social Class and Children’s Third-party Intervention Tendency and Forms. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 01461672251352895.

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Abstract

This study investigated how social class is related to children’s third-party intervention (TPI) tendency and forms (compensation vs. punishment). Children from different social class backgrounds watched short animated films depicting two cartoon characters making fair or unfair decisions in resource distribution scenarios. The results revealed that, compared to children from higher social classes, children from lower social classes were more likely to engage in TPIs in realistic distribution contexts. Moreover, when intervening, children from lower social class backgrounds were more inclined to both compensate victims and punish transgressors. These findings suggest that children’s tendencies to engage in TPIs differ across social classes from an early age, offering new insights into the development of children’s moral behavior from a cultural perspective.

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