Leaving a Choice for Others: Children's Evaluations of Considerate, Socially‐Mindful Actions. Issue 4 (17th January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhao, Xin; Zhao, Xuan; Gweon, Hyowon; Kushnir, Tamar
• Is Part Of: Child development. Volume 92:Issue 4(2021)
• Page Start: 1238
• Page End: 1253
• Publication Date: 2021-01-17
• Subjects: Child development -- Periodicals; Child psychology -- Periodicals; Child Development -- Periodicals; Child Development; Pediatrics -- Periodicals; Pedicatrics; 305.231
• DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13480
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0009-3920

Abstract

Abstract : People value those who act with others in mind even as they pursue their own goals. Across three studies ( N = 566; 4‐ to 6‐year‐olds), we investigated children's developing understanding of such considerate, socially‐mindful actions. By age 6, both U.S. and Chinese children positively evaluate a character who takes a snack for herself in a way that leaves a snack choice for others over a character who leaves no choice (Study 1), but only when the actors had alternative possible actions (Study 2) and when a clear beneficiary was present (Study 3). These results suggest an emerging ability to infer underlying social intentions from self‐oriented actions, providing insights into the role of social‐cognitive capacities versus culture‐specific norms in children's moral evaluations.