Poster #123 - Children consider latency to help when evaluating others

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Moral Development

Integrative Statement

Infants prefer those who help to those who hinder another’s goals, and these evaluations are based on the intent of the agent, not the outcome of their action (Hamlin, 2013; Hamlin, Wynn, & Bloom, 2007). However, other factors, such as the strength of a character’s motivation, may influence children’s evaluations of a helper beyond intention. For instance, if a person is strongly motivated to help, they may act immediately. If a person is not motivated to help, they may weight the cost and benefits of helping, thus taking longer to act.

This study examined whether or not 4- to 6-year-old children’s (N = 81 of planned 96) evaluations of helpers were influenced by the latency of a person to provide help. Children watched two videos where a person dropped a box and required help to retrieve it. In one video, the helper picked the box up and gave it to the other person immediately. In the second type of video, the helper waited twenty seconds before picking up the box and returning it. Both characters had positive intentions to help another and succeeded, but one character helped immediately whereas the other character helped after a brief hesitation. After watching the videos, children answered a series of questions evaluating the two characters.

While children evaluated both characters as nice, they rated the character who helped immediately as nicer than the one who hesitated (W = 2403, p < 0.001). Consistent with their niceness ratings, children also indicated that they would rather play with the character who helped immediately rather than the one who hesitated (49 of 81, p = 0.037). These findings suggest that children use latency to help in their evaluations, and prefer those who help immediately. To confirm children understood the videos, two additional questions were asked. Children identified the immediate helper as the better helper (51 of 81, p = 0.025) and stated that the hesitating helping took longer to act (64 of 81, p < 0.001).

These results reveal that children factor the time taken to act into their evaluations of helpful behavior. In this study, the videos depicted an instrumental need with low cost to help. While hesitating to provide help could have different meanings, many of them are negative. Higher costs to help may attenuate the negativity associated with hesitating. Future work will investigate perceptions of hesitation when the cost to help is higher.

Authors

• Jonas Ventimiglia, University of Maryland, College Park
  Presenting Author

• Amanda Mae Woodward, University of Maryland, College Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brandon Frank Terrizzi, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jonathan S Beier, University of Maryland at College Park
  Non-Presenting Author