Development of inequity aversion in argentine children in different SES populations

Abstract

Inequity aversion, which can be categorized into disadvantageous inequity aversion and advantageous inequity aversion, does not develop in the same way across different societies and cultures. In the current study, we evaluated inequity aversion using the "inequity game" among Argentine children from two different populations: a low socioeconomic status (SES) group (n = 168) and a middle socioeconomic status group (n = 129). Middle-SES children showed stronger signs of disadvantageous inequity aversion and showed signs from an earlier age than low-SES children, but neither group showed advantageous inequity aversion. On the other hand, girls tended to manifest greater levels of advantageous inequity aversion than boys, while boys manifested greater disadvantageous inequity aversion than girls. These results indicate that the phenomenon of inequity aversion not only varies between different cultures and countries but also manifests differently within the same society.