Do we perceive ethnic ingroup members as wealthier? Examining Hong Kong children’s inferences of wealth status based on resources and ethnic group membership

Abstract

The way in which children consider information may depend on the groups to which they belong and the social status those groups occupy. In three studies, we examined how children infer their peers’ wealth status based on the possessions present and ethnic group membership. We recruited 242 Hong Kong children (Mage = 5;11, SDage = 1;0) from the ethnic Chinese majority (Study 1: 115 children) and two ethnic minorities (Study 2a: 84 South Asian/Southeast Asian children; Study 2b: 43 White/Biracial children). Overall, participants were able to distinguish between low- and high-wealth items, and make correct wealth-based inferences. Compared to both groups of ethnic minority children, ethnic majority children tend to judge their ingroup peers as wealthier even when they possessed fewer resources than outgroup peers. Thus, children inferred peer wealth status based on the resources present, but such inference was impacted by their own ethnic group membership and socioeconomic status.