Distributive justice in children from 5 to 10 years of age

The main aim of this research was to investigate the types of principles of distributive justice. A sample of 120 children, whose ages ranged from 5 to 10 years, of both sexes, took part in the investigation. Their conceptions about distributive justice were evaluated through a dilemma constituted by four stories, in which two children had to decide whether or not to give more toy blocks to another child that arrived late at school. The results showed that (a) a tendency to absolute equality characterizes children of 5 to 6 years old; (b) the use of equity judgments increase with age; (c) the judgments that considered the importance of cooperation and mutual respect were present even in children 5 to 6 years old. Finally, these results are discussed in the context of research on child moral development and distributive justice.