Upstream reciprocity in preschool-age children: Evidence for early gratitude?

• In Event: 3-186 - Feeling good and being good: Conceptual and empirical links between positive emotions and morality

Integrative Statement

The evolutionary success of humanity has been driven by skills, cognitive mechanisms, and emotional responses that make cooperation within large groups possible. Gratitude is argued to be one such mechanism (Nowak, 2007). Gratitude is the positive emotion one experiences when another person has intentionally given one something of value (McCullough et al., 2001). Among adults, gratitude motivates not only direct reciprocity (repaying one’s benefactor) but also upstream reciprocity (acting pro-socially towards new individuals); it thus not only enhances one’s current relationships but also fosters new ones (Barlett & DeSteno 2006). However, almost nothing is known about the ontogeny of this latter function of gratitude. The present studies were designed to examine this question.

In Study 1, 3- and 4-year-olds (n=40 per age group) played a purportedly difficult game, in which they had to find a key that was hidden in one of four boxes. Before playing, children received a note from the child who had previously played the game (Sally). Half the children received a helpful note telling them which box the key was hidden in (Gratitude condition), whereas the other half received a positive but non-helpful note (Control condition). Children in both conditions then searched for and found the key, which was used to unlock a box containing five stickers. Subsequently, children had the option of sharing stickers with a new child (not Sally). Four-year-olds showed evidence of upstream reciprocity: Those in the Gratitude condition were more likely to share stickers and shared more stickers with the new child than those in the Control condition (both ps<.011). Three-year-olds did not share differently across conditions (both ps>.05; Figures 1A and 1B).

Study 2 examined whether gratitude motivates children’s upstream reciprocity. We operationalized gratitude according to its evaluative components, namely, the concurrent positive evaluation of the outcome and the benefactor (Ortony et al., 1988). While 4-year-olds (n=46) played the same game as in Study 1, they answered questions about how happy they were about the outcome as well as their evaluation of the note writer (Sally). Replicating Study 1, 4-year-olds in the Gratitude condition were more likely to share stickers and shared more stickers with the new child than those in the Control condition (both ps< .017; Figure 2A). As expected given that outcomes were identical across conditions, children did not differ by condition in the mean ratings of happiness or the reason for their happiness. However, children in the Gratitude condition were more likely to attribute positive qualities to Sally (p= .011, Figure 2B). Across conditions, children’s positive attributions were positively correlated with the number of stickers they shared with the new child (r= .363, p=.013).

Thus, by 4 years of age, a gratitude-inducing situation (receiving help) motivated upstream reciprocity. Moreover, receiving help increased children’s positive evaluation of the helper, and this positive evaluation was related to their upstream reciprocity, providing evidence for a gratitude-like mechanism. This suggests that gratitude may serve to enhance cooperation from early in development.

Authors

• Stefen James Garrett Beeler, University of Virginia
  Presenting Author

• Amrisha Vaish, The University of Virginia
  Non-Presenting Author