| The present study extends findings in the areas of distributive justice and fairness issues related to familial relationships. Research on moral development has tended to rely on cognitive-developmental stage models. These frameworks assume that moral judgments are not strongly influenced by contextual factors; therefore, they do not adequately describe how children's moral reasoning may differ due to context. Previous research on the development of distributive justice has found age-related differences when participants are asked to divide money earned from a cooperative task among story characters. The current literature does not adequately describe children's perceptions of fairness in distributive situations within the family. Common familial practices, like doing chores, have been neglected as important for children's developing sense of justice. The present study examined the fairness judgments and reasoning offered by children and adolescents in the context of the division of household labor among siblings. The data were examined for grade level and gender differences in the endorsement of three distributive justice principles (equality, equity and need).;Participants were male and female third grade, sixth grade, and ninth grade students. Participants were read a total of six stories, each describing four siblings engaged in household chores. Two stories each represented the principles of equality, equity, and need. Participants indicated how fair they thought the division of chores was using a 5-point Likert scale, and then provided a rationale for each fairness rating.;Findings indicated endorsement of the equality principle by the majority of participants, regardless of their gender or grade level. Analyses also revealed that the sixth graders were the least likely to view a division of labor based on need as fair. Participants' fairness rationales provided further insight into the ratings. The findings call into question the notion that use of the equality rule signifies a less cognitively advanced solution. Overall, the study's findings support the notion that the endorsement of the principles of justice depends on the circumstances of the situation. Future research is needed to fully explore an information processing approach, rather than a stage-model approach, to the development of distributive justice. |
