Early intuitions of wealth and distress: How children perceive psychological pain in relation to wealth status.

= 144, preregistered) provided a causal test of this mechanism. Information about an individual's control in life rendered their wealth status irrelevant, such that children perceived the less wealthy as experiencing more distress only when the less wealthy had lower control in life. Across all three studies, children's wealth-based pain perceptions prompted greater sympathy and increased support for individuals with less wealth compared with those with more wealth. These findings advance our understanding of the early beliefs children hold about wealth status and psychological pain, revealing its development, underlying mechanism, and potential impact on subsequent social support. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).