Children's perceptions of effort and productivity as granting a right for reward

Abstract

The general hypothesis of this study is that reward allocation by schoolchildren is founded on the perception of right, and that both effort alone and productivity alone are perceived as sufficient conditions for granting a right to an equal share of rewards. One hundred and twenty children and adolescents, equally divided between the sexes, three age groups (6–7, 10–11, and 15–16) and two environments (urban and kibbutz) were individually interviewed. They were presented with scenarios of two children working at a task, each investing a different amount of effort and/or reaching a different level of production. The resulting reward allocations proposed by the subjects, as well as the reasons they gave for them, support the general hypothesis stated above. Only the sufficiency principle, based on right, fits the allocation of rewards across variations of invested effort and productivity. A few differences were noted between age groups, whereas quite a consistent pattern was revealed for both genders and both environments. An explanation of allocation in terms of right is shown to be more appropriate than one in terms of equality.