1-147 - Keeping Others in Mind: New Evidence for Selective and Effective Prosociality in Toddlers and Young Children

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

From early in life, children readily help others and evaluate others’ prosocial actions (e.g., Tomasello, 2008; Hamlin et al., 2007). However, a motivation to be prosocial is only part of the equation; to provide effective help, we must decide for whom, how, and when to act prosocially. Here we present four papers showing new evidence that toddlers and young children consider the various characteristics of others and the specifics of the situation as they make prosocial decisions.

Paper 1 shows that toddlers preferentially help wealthy individuals and in-group members, considering the potential benefits for themselves from interacting with others. Paper 2 demonstrates toddlers’ ability to consider the causes of others’ failed actions to provide appropriate help that serves the helpee’s specific needs. Paper 3 shows how preschoolers become more considerate of others’ needs for physical space when they play, and that experiencing the consequences of someone else’s inconsiderate actions contributes to this development. Paper 4 shows that children in two cultures (US and China) become increasingly sensitive to the importance of leaving a choice for others and judge actions that limit choice to be less considerate.

Together these papers illustrate how children develop an abstract understanding of prosociality that goes beyond a desire to “do good”; they consider the self, others, and the social-physical context to produce selective, flexible and increasingly considerate prosocial actions and evaluations. These results present a novel perspective on early prosocial development by shedding light on how children make decisions that “keep others in mind.”

Sub Unit

• Moral Development

Chairs

• Xin (Alice) Zhao, Cornell University

• Sophie Bridgers, Stanford University

Individual Presentations

• The Impact of Concrete and Abstract Affiliative Benefits on Toddlers’ Helping Behavior - Presenting Author: Elizabeth Enright, University of Washington; Non-Presenting Author: Rachel Horton, University of Washington; Non-Presenting Author: Jessica Sommerville, University of Washington

• Toddlers Provide Help Specific to the Cause of Others' Failed Actions - Presenting Author: Sophie Bridgers, Stanford University; Non-Presenting Author: Sara Altman, Stanford University; Non-Presenting Author: Hyowon Gweon, Stanford University

• Development of Considerateness in Preschoolers - Presenting Author: Margarita Svetlova, Duke University; Non-Presenting Author: Phoebe Caplin, Duke University; Non-Presenting Author: Celia Kohler, Duke University; Non-Presenting Author: Mahnoor Nazeer, Duke University; Non-Presenting Author: Victoria Trimm, Duke University

• Leaving a Choice for Others: Children’s Evaluation of Considerate Actions - Presenting Author: Xin (Alice) Zhao, Cornell University; Non-Presenting Author: Xuan Zhao, University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Hyowon Gweon, Stanford University; Non-Presenting Author: Tamar Kushnir, Cornell University