More hardworking than smart: Nature and origins of stereotypes about children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.

= 251, aged 8-13, 52% girls, 48% boys) and one of their parents (aged 29-59, 58% women, 42% men). As hypothesized, children perceived peers from low-SES backgrounds as more hardworking than intelligent. They attributed these peers' success more to hard work than intelligence and failure more to a lack of intelligence than a lack of hard work. Parents held similar stereotypes. Children's stereotypes correlated with their parents' (standardized coefficient = 0.31). Children had stronger stereotypes when their parents had higher SES or stronger essentialist beliefs about SES (i.e., beliefs that SES is easily discerned, stable, and rooted in biology). These associations did not depend on children's age. Together, results reveal an early emerging stereotype, partially shared between parents and children, that portrays children from low-SES backgrounds as more hardworking than smart. Cultural narratives that provide seemingly positive portrayals of low-SES individuals as primarily hardworking might reflect and reinforce this stereotype. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).