How does intergroup familiarity moderate children’s merit-based resource allocation in the context of group-based competition?

Previous research has found that children can allocate resources according to competition outcomes (e.g., merit-based allocation) in interpersonal competitive contexts, but less research has investigated how children address merit-based allocations in the context of group-based competition, especially when influenced by intergroup familiarity. To address these issues, children (N = 374) aged 5–6 years old and 7–8 years old were asked to participate in an intergroup game with a familiar or unfamiliar group in the form of a competition (further divided into win and lose conditions) or noncompetition. They were then assessed on their resource allocation, reasoning and judgments of others’ allocations. We found that children as young as 5 years old can overcome group bias and adhere to allocating meritoriously in group-based competitive contexts. Furthermore, intergroup familiarity could decrease the effect of group bias on children’s merit-based allocation, but this tendency weakens with age. Finally, children consistently judged equal allocations positively regardless of actual allocation. The results indicated that with age, children were better able to weigh the moral concerns of merit and the social concerns of intergroup familiarity when determining the allocation of resources in group-based competition.