China’s dual urban–rural structure has resulted in rural residents with a lower social rank vis-à-vis urban residents. This research examined prosociality between lower class individuals (rural children) and higher class individuals (urban children), operationalized using the dictator game, which focuses on sharing resources with others. Two studies consistently showed that both rural and urban children were more likely to share more resources with rural partners than with urban partners. This tendency was more pronounced among urban, higher class children. This effect occurred in both within- and between-subject designs, when the allocated resources were money and notebooks, and in situations with and without a short period of social contact. The findings did not provide evidence for the view that lower class is associated with higher prosociality. Rather, the prosociality depended on the social class of both the actor and the target. This has implications for integrating migrant children into city life.
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