DOI: 10.5061/dryad.h44j0zpz5
title: Young children exhibit sex-biased strategies to obtain resources

description: Mammalian males’ strategies for obtaining resources have been
 well-established and typically depend on direct contests that produce
 hierarchies. Although less well-documented, current evidence suggests that
 in female philopatric communities, females engage in contests often with
 coalition partners who are typically female kin. When kin are not present
 however, females of similar age appear more egalitarian and tend to avoid
 contests. To examine whether phylogenetically similar sex-biased
 strategies to obtain valuable resources occur in humans, we held a contest
 for 50 pairs of unrelated, familiar 3-7-year-old children from diverse
 backgrounds. We show that the majority of female pairs spontaneously
 approached the resources side-by-side then briefly competed to obtain the
 resources. In marked contrast, in over half of the male pairs one male
 deferred to his partner who then gained unimpeded access to the most
 valuable resource. Sex-differentiated strategies however appeared only
 with same-sex peers. Results show that already by early childhood, humans
 exhibit sex-biased strategies to regulate competition between same-sex
 peers. Sex-segregated peer groups however mean that by adulthood, each sex
 has practiced strikingly different strategies for obtaining resources from
 same-sex peers.
description: # Young children exhibit sex-biased strategies to obtain resources Dataset
 DOI: [10.5061/dryad.h44j0zpz5](10.5061/dryad.h44j0zpz5) ## Description of
 the data and file structure 100 pairs of children engaged in a contest to
 obtain stickers in pairs: 18 female-female pairs, 16 female-male pairs, 16
 male-male pairs. Type of approaches to the sticker box (equality,
 hierarchy, contest) and whether a contest occurred after arrival at the
 sticker box were coded. Joyce Benenson
 [benenson@fas.harvard.edu](mailto:benenson@fas.harvard.edu) ### Files and
 variables #### **Datawide_December_2_2025.csv** The purpose of this data
 file to examine whether the sex composition of the pair influenced the
 type of approach used by the pair, and then whether the type of approach
 used by the pair influenced time differences in leaving the starting line,
 velocity of the faster child and whether a contest occurred at the sticker
 box. Covariates included were mean age of the pair, SES of the school,
 differences in height between the children, and whether the pair were of
 the same ethnicity. Dyad = ID School = ID Ethnicity- S=Same D=Different
 Agemean - average age of the pair (months) SES - socioeconomic status of
 school 1 = high 2 = medium 3 = low Sex composition F = 2 females FM =
 Female-Male M = 2 males Startime2min1 Difference in time in seconds for
 first and second child to begin approach Approach - Equality, Hierarchy,
 or Contest Start Faster Time - the time the faster child left the starting
 line in ms End Faster Time - the time faster child reached the box in ms
 Time Faster- the time the faster child took to reach the box in ms
 Velocity Faster - Child's velocity (300cm/Time to reach box)
 Heightdiff cm - absolute height difference between pair members in cm
 Contest at box = 1- yes 0- no ####
 **Datawide_Multinomial_December_1_2025.csv** The purpose of this data file
 to examine whether the sex composition of the pair influenced the type of
 approach used by the pair using a single analysis. Dyad = ID School = ID
 Ethnicity- S=Same D=Different Agemean - average age of the pair (months)
 SES - socioeconomic status of school 1 = high 2 = medium 3 = low
 Heightdiff cm - absolute height difference between pair members in cm
 Approach - Equality, Hierarchy, or Contest ####
 **Datalong_December_1_2025.csv** The purpose of this data file is to
 compare the trajectories of pairs using the Equality and Contest
 strategies as they leave the starting line, reach the 50cm line, and reach
 the 200cm line. Dyad = ID SES - socioeconomic status of school 1 = high 2
 = medium 3 = low Agemean - average age of the pair (months) Heightdiff cm
 - absolute height difference between pair members in cm Distance- from
 starting line 0, 50cm, 200cm Time- s that child left the starting line and
 reached the 50cm and 200cm lines Ethnicity- S=Same D=Different Approach -
 Equality, Hierarchy, or Contest ## Code/software BORIS (v. 8.20.3), R (v.
 4.4.3) ## Human subjects data All data are listed by subject number. No
 schools are identified.