Preschool boys prefer larger groups, while adult choices show weak political link
Researchers in Norway showed 153 children aged 3 to 6 animations of two groups, one with three characters and one with two. Boys tended to choose a member of the larger group in social tasks, but girls showed no clear preference. Among adults, choices varied by gender and were only weakly associated with attitudes about social inequality.
University of Oslo researchers studied 153 Norwegian children aged 3–6. They watched animations of two colored, face-bearing groups—three characters versus two—moving separately without conflict. Children chose a character they liked, wanted to play with, or befriend. About 65% of boys and 43% of girls picked the larger group’s member; boys exceeded chance, girls did not.
A control with 164 preschoolers used scattered, uncoordinated shapes without faces; choices of the more numerous shape were near chance. Among 180 infants aged 6–13 months, reaching tasks showed no larger-group preference; a looking-time study with 220 infants found attention split fairly evenly. Adult studies involved 3,467 white U.S. participants rating cartoon groups, with one also asking about individual members.
The findings may interest parents, educators, and developmental researchers by suggesting that group-size preferences can appear early and differ by gender. Because adult choices showed only weak links to inequality attitudes, the study could caution against reading political meaning into such preferences. It may also prompt further work on how social cues shape belonging, without implying that early behavior determines later ideology.