The aim of the current study was to examine the development of equity preferences across adolescence, for boys and girls separately. Participants from 8 to 18 years old (M = 14.09 years; N = 1,216) played four economic allocation games. Analyses revealed a decrease in equity preferences with age and this decrease was stronger for boys than for girls. There was also an age-related increase in the preference for efficient outcomes (i.e., maximization of total available resources), which was again stronger for boys than for girls. Overall, although equity remains as a strong social norm, adolescents are decreasingly strict in adhering to the equity norm and show increasing flexibility in equity preferences.
© 2014 The Authors. Child Development © 2014 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.