Group Proportions and Linguistic Framing Shift Children's and Adults' Perceptions of Group Status

When two groups differ in size, what predicts which group is perceived as higher in status? Across three studies (384 3-10-year-olds; 610 adults), we demonstrate that (1) age; (2) the proportion between groups; and (3) the notion of status described influence whether a smaller or larger group is chosen.