New research indicates that the biases we hold in favor of the rich as opposed to the poor may be established by age 14 months, with toddlers showing a preference for those with more stuff. It turns out, these are deep-rooted patterns that speak to the nature of bias based on wealth and the challenges faced in tackling inequality.
Tracking Toddlers’ Preferences For Wealth
UC Berkeley researchers, in a study led by a psychologist at the university, ran experiments testing how toddlers pick up on signs of wealth and react to them. Young children, who were as young as 14 months old, were then introduced to two individuals — one holding a bowl of toys or snacks and the other with an almost empty bowl.
The results were striking. The toddlers were much more likely to pick the bowl of the individual who had previously been richer, showing their capacity for recalling wealth differences.
In later tests, the children persisted in showing a preference for wealthier people: They were more likely to pick the person with more resources when deciding whom to help. The authors of the study have hence concluded that this bias develops at least by 13 months, indicating more rapid development of wealth-based biases during childhood than was previously assumed.
The Negative Perception Job
They also examined what may have contributed to this wealth bias. They discovered that it may not be because these Americans see the rich in an especially favourable light, but rather because they hold negative perceptions of those individuals with lesser means.
For example, in one experiment, researchers monitored where toddlers looked while they watched an adult divvy out a differing amount of stuff. The children also eyed the rich and poor individuals for an equal amount of time when they heard a positive message about the adult. But if they had been nudged to hear only a negative message, the children tend to focus on what that poor person might take away from them.
This may imply that the wealth bias is informed by a dislike of low-resource individuals rather than being motivated by a like for high-resource ones. In their paper the researchers contend that changing how the poor are viewed — as aspects desperate, lazy sub-humans — is a first and perhaps essential step in counteracting wealth inequality.
Conclusion
This research reveals just how pervasive our biases are about wealth that they even pop up before a child’s second birthday. As such, it highlights the need to tackle inequality and prejudiced attitudes towards the disadvantaged at their roots in early childhood. When we start early and work to change the thinking and behavior of children towards those who have less, this is certainly a step in the right direction of an even playing field.
