Participants (N = 384 three- to ten-year-olds; 51% girls, 49% boys; 73% White, 18% multiracial/other, 5% Asian, and 3% Black; N = 610 adults) saw depictions of 20 individuals split into two social groups (1:19; 2:18; 5:15; or 8:12 per group) and selected which group was “in charge” (Experiment 1), “the leader” (Experiment 2), or likely to “get the stuff” (resources) in a conflict (Experiment 3). Whereas participants across ages predicted the larger group would “get the stuff,” a tendency to view smaller groups as “in charge” and “the leader” strengthened with age and when the smaller group was rarer. These findings suggest the perceived relation between numerical group size and hierarchy is flexible and inform theory regarding the developmental trajectories of reasoning about power and status.

中文翻译：

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小组领导，大小组控制：对数字小组规模、权力和发展状态的看法

参与者（N = 384 名 3 至 10 岁的儿童；51% 的女孩，49% 的男孩；73% 的白人，18% 的多种族/其他人，5% 的亚洲人和 3% 的黑人；N= 610 名成年人）看到将 20 个人分成两个社会群体（每组 1:19；2:18；5:15；或 8:12）的描述，并选择哪个组“负责”（实验 1），“领导者”（实验 2），或可能在冲突中“获得东西”（资源）（实验 3）。尽管不同年龄的参与者预测较大的群体会“得到东西”，但随着年龄的增长和较小的群体人数较少时，将较小的群体视为“负责人”和“领导者”的倾向会加强。这些发现表明，数字群体规模和等级之间的感知关系是灵活的，并为关于权力和地位推理的发展轨迹提供了理论依据。