Researchers found that preschool boys tend to prefer members of larger groups, while adult preferences for group size show weak links to attitudes regarding social hierarchy.

A study from the University of Oslo published in Nature Human Behaviour explored how group size influences social preferences in children and adults. Researchers found that preschool boys in Norway were more likely to choose members of larger groups, while girls showed no clear preference. In contrast, adult participants in the United States generally favored smaller groups, with choices showing weak associations with views on social dominance.

Preschool Social Preferences

Researchers tested 153 children aged 3 to 6 by showing them animations of two groups of characters with faces. About 65% of boys chose a member from the larger group, a preference beyond chance, while 43% of girls made the same choice. When researchers tested 164 additional preschoolers using shapes without faces, both boys and girls chose the more numerous shapes about half the time, suggesting that social cues were significant to the children's decisions.

Adult Perspectives and Political Attitudes

In studies involving 3,467 white adults in the U.S., participants generally favored smaller groups, a preference that was stronger among women. Adults perceived larger groups as more dominant and smaller groups as richer and more refined. Those who were more attracted to larger groups showed a weak tendency to be more accepting of social hierarchies, support military force, and oppose social welfare, though these choices were not linked to general left or right political leanings.

Infant and Evolutionary Context

Experiments with 180 infants aged 6 to 13 months showed no preference for characters in larger groups. Researchers suggest that an attraction to larger groups in children could be an early building block for understanding group dominance, potentially rooted in evolutionary behaviors related to competing for resources.