Cultural similarities and differences in the development of disability-based beliefs about upward social mobility: Evidence from the U.S. and China

Disability can constrain people’s opportunities for upward social mobility. However, little is known about whether children are aware of disability-based disparities in upward social mobility, whether culture-specific input about disability is related to the development, expression, or consequences of beliefs about disability-based disparities in social mobility. We recruited 4- to 9-year-old children (N = 187) and adults (N = 168) from the United States and China, two cultures who vary in their prevalence, policies, and attitudes towards disabilities. Participants were first asked to estimate the likelihood of upward social mobility for families with different disability statuses (i.e., no disability, physical, sensory, or learning disability) and next asked to allocate a material resources and an opportunity resource to one of the four families. Children across both cultures expected families with no disability more likely to experience upward mobility than families with any form of disability, with older children showing a stronger awareness of disparities. Notably, only U.S. children integrated disability status with families’ socioeconomic status in an intersectional manner when reasoning about the likelihood of upward mobility. Moreover, across both cultures, older (vs. younger) children were more likely to rectify inequalities by allocating material resources to families perceived as unlikely to experience upward mobility. These findings highlight that even young children make inferences on the basis of disability status, sometimes intersectionally, and demonstrate the importance of cross-cultural approaches in social cognitive development research.