Preschoolers consider the recipient’s merit and role of allocator when distributing goods

Previous studies reporting that children do not use the equity rule were conducted in the West, where children tend to be rewarded regardless of their academic performance, thus contradicting equity. Chinese parents’ and teachers’ high expectations for children’s academic achievements in Hong Kong provided a context for studying children’s understanding of equity when allocating rewards. In order to test children’s concept of equality and equity, children were asked to allocate resources while assuming the role of teachers and parents, and to justify their choices. 4‐year-olds only used the equality rule in resource allocation, whereas 5-year‐olds’ allocation decisions varied with contextual factors: They used the equity rule significantly more in family contexts and preferred the equality rule in school contexts. Implications for future study and classroom practices are discussed at the end of this paper. Copyright © 2013 AHDA.