Authority Concepts Among Children and Adolescents in the Island of Macao

We examined the reasoning of children and adolescents in the island of Macao regarding the bases of legitimate authority across social contexts. We asked 101 children in 3rd, 5th, and 7th grades to evaluate the authority of persons issuing commands to children in two events. In one, persons with varying combinations of authority attributes issue a command that resolves a turn‐taking dispute between children in school. In another, persons with varying social positions issue a command to children to stop playing ball across three contexts: school, home, and a public park. Results show that, although young Macanese reason in many ways similar to American children, social position may be a less important legitimizing authority attribute for them than for American children.