Distributive justice development and social class.

Two studies assessed distributive justice development in lower- and middle-class children attending social-class-integrated schools. In Exp I, 28 middle- and 28 lower-class (MC and LC) White children from kindergarten and Grade 3 were given the Distributive Justice Scale and a vocabulary test. Results show that regardless of grade, LC Ss lagged behind MC Ss in distributive justice development, even when vocabulary was controlled. In Exp II, 32 MC and 32 LC Black Ss from kindergarten and Grade 3 were given the same measures plus sociometric peer ratings. Results replicated those of Exp I. Peer ratings indicate that LC Ss were chosen most often for negative sociometric questions. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)