Do American children automatically encode cues to wealth?

As adults, we readily notice markers of social status and wealth and draw conclusions about individuals based on these cues. Do children do the same? Using a "Who Said What?" task across 5- to 9-year-old American children (n = 159; Mage = 7.44 years; 51.6% female, 47.2% male, 1.2% nonconforming or not provided; 59.1% White, 23.3% racial-ethnic minority, 17.6% not provided) and adults (n = 182; 84.1% female, 13.7% male, 2.2% nonconforming or not provided; 54.9% White, 44.5% racial-ethnic minority, 0.6% not provided), we found that both children and adults automatically encode (i.e., spontaneously notice and remember) occupational cues (i.e., work attire) and quantitative cues (i.e., amount of money) to wealth but that only adults automatically encode qualitative cues to wealth (i.e., car quality), suggesting developmental changes in which types of cues to wealth are most salient. Furthermore, automatic encoding in children was sensitive to contextual factors; children from communities with less affluence and higher rates of unemployment were more likely to encode some wealth cues than their peers from more affluent and employed communities. Finally, from 5 to 7 years of age, children began to draw connections between wealth cues, using occupational cues to make inferences about the quantity and quality of others' possessions. This research highlights the changing salience of wealth cues across development and suggests that even young children are likely to notice economic inequality and thus to be ready for conversations about inequality, as well as the origins of inequality, at an earlier age than previously supposed.

Automatic encoding across social categories in American children and adults.

Many caregivers wonder when to talk to children about social inequality and racism, often expressing the belief that children do not pay attention to race or inequity. Here, across 5-9-year-old American children (n = 159, Mage = 7.44; 51.6% female, 47.2% male, 1.2% nonconforming or not provided; 59.1% White, 23.3% racial-ethnic minority, 17.6% not provided) and adults (n = 182, 84.1% female, 13.7% male, 2.2% nonconforming or not provided, 54.9% White, 44.5% racial-ethnic minority, 0.60% not provided), the data show that even 5-year-olds automatically encoded (i.e., spontaneously noticed and remembered) information about race, occupational status, and gender. Although children and adults encoded gender and occupational status at similar levels, adults encoded race at significantly higher levels than children. Additionally, occupational status encoding in children was sensitive to relevant environmental input (i.e., children in less affluent communities were more likely to encode occupational status) suggesting that children become "tuned in" and motivated to notice relevant, salient aspects of their environment. Given the early emergence of gender, race, and occupational status encoding, caregivers should assume that children do notice racial, occupational, or gender inequities in their environments and feel confident in the decision to begin discussing the systemic roots of inequity with children from a young age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).