@article{TEXTUAL,
      recid = {10239},
      author = {Shu, Yuhang and Li, Huisi Jessica and Ma, Shaocong and  Bian, Lin},
      title = {The impact of sufferers’ wealth status on pain  perceptions: Its development and relation to allocation of  healthcare resources},
      journal = {Developmental Science},
      address = {2023-12-21},
      number = {TEXTUAL},
      abstract = {<p>Wealth-based disparities in health care wherein the  poor receive undertreatment in painful conditions are a  prominent issue that requires immediate attention. Research  with adults suggests that these disparities are partly  rooted in stereotypes associating poor individuals with  pain insensitivity. However, whether and how children  consider a sufferer's wealth status in their pain  perceptions remains unknown. The present work addressed  this question by testing 4- to 9-year-olds from the US and  China. In Study 1 (N = 108, 56 girls, 79% White), US  participants saw rich and poor White children experiencing  identical injuries and indicated who they thought felt more  pain. Although 4- to 6-year-olds responded at chance,  children aged seven and above attributed more pain to the  poor than to the rich. Study 2 with a new sample of US  children (N = 111, 56 girls, 69% White) extended this  effect to judgments of White adults’ pain. Pain judgments  also informed children's prosocial behaviors, leading them  to provide medical resources to the poor. Studies 3 (N =  118, 59 girls, 100% Asian) and 4 (N = 80, 40 girls, 100%  Asian) found that, when evaluating White and Asian people's  suffering, Chinese children began to attribute more pain to  the poor than to the rich earlier than US children. Thus,  unlike US adults, US children and Chinese children  recognize the poor's pain from early on. These findings add  to our knowledge of group-based beliefs about pain  sensitivity and have broad implications on ways to promote  equitable health care.</p> <p>Research Highlights  <ul>    <li>Four studies examined whether 4- to 9-year-old  children's pain perceptions were influenced by sufferers’  wealth status.</li>   <li>US children attributed more pain  to White individuals of low wealth status than those of  high wealth status by age seven.</li>   <li>Chinese  children demonstrated an earlier tendency to attribute more  pain to the poor (versus the rich) compared to US  children.</li>   <li>Children's wealth-based pain judgments  underlied their tendency to provide healthcare resources to  people of low wealth status.</li> </ul>  </p>},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/10239},
}