How do children and adults ascribe authority?

The results from our first study with preschoolers are out! We went to several preschools in Lübeck and asked 3-to-6 -year-olds to watch short video clips of two people interacting. Afterwards, we asked them who of the two people is more likely to be the boss. Turns out, children go mostly by looks – they judged the taller person as more likely to be in charge. Adults, in contrast, ignored the height difference but based their judgement on the person’s behavior. All the details can be found here:

https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/nb73a

What’s especially cool about this study: the entire project was initiated and carried out by a group of super motivated and talented Psychology students for their Bachelor’s thesis Congratulations, Sarah Pieper, Sara Weber, and Anne Neuwerk!