Who deserves what – and why? A systematic review and meta-analysis on distributive justice preferences and low socioeconomic backgrounds in children and adolescents

This study synthesizes evidence on whether children’s and adolescents’ socioeconomic status (SES) relates to distributive justice preferences, and when contextual SES cues shape allocation and fairness judgments. A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis (searches: Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC; July 30, 2025) screened 2096 records. To be included, articles needed to be published in English, peer-reviewed, include participants between the ages of 3–18, and report empirical data with an association between distributive justice preferences and socioeconomic backgrounds; 11 studies met the inclusion criteria. Random-effects models were fit to Fisher’s z correlations. The pooled association was essentially zero (r = –.001, 95% CI [−.090, 0.087]), with high heterogeneity (I² = 83.2%). Moderator tests by continent, SES assessment (objective vs. subjective), distributive justice assessment (behavior vs. judgment), and age were non-significant. Narrative synthesis highlighted context sensitivity: need salience, structural attributions, and social proximity increased equity-oriented responses, whereas ownership/merit cues reduced redistribution; subjective SES tended to align more with judgments than objective SES. SES shows no robust main effect on distributive justice, but associations seem context-dependent and should be further analyzed.