Preschool boys favor bigger groups while adults' choices hint at political attitudes
Two cartoon characters appear on a screen. One belongs to a group of three, and the other to a group of two. Which character would you rather play with?
A Norwegian study found that preschool boys tended to choose characters from larger groups, while adult choices differed based on gender and showed weak links to political attitudes. Researchers at the University of Oslo explored when preferences for larger groups emerge and examined whether adult choices relate to political attitudes.
They studied 153 preschool children aged 3 to 6, who were shown animations of two groups of characters. Children overwhelmingly chose the member of the larger group, with 65% of boys and 43% of girls preferring the larger group member. Another experiment with 164 preschoolers using shape characters showed that boys and girls chose the more numerous type of shape about half the time, suggesting that group cues influenced their decisions.
Among 180 infants aged 6 to 13 months, a similar experiment found no preference for characters in the larger group. Adults participating in three separate studies also preferred smaller groups, with women showing a stronger preference. Perceived social power associated with larger groups seemed to influence adult choices, as those who favored larger groups were more accepting of group dominance and supported punitive policies.
However, the relationship between group preferences and political beliefs remained weak and did not indicate causation or continuity from childhood to adulthood.
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