1-200 - Managing Others’ Beliefs About the Self: Bridging Reputation Management and Theory of Mind

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Our behaviors in social contexts are not only influenced by what we think of others, but also by what others think of us. Although even young children engage in behaviors to promote their reputations, we know little about the cognitive mechanisms that underlie these behaviors. This symposium synthesizes latest research that provides a theoretical link between children’s developing understanding of others’ minds (theory of mind) and early reputation management.

Three studies investigate how children reason about others’ beliefs about the self and strategically adjust their behaviors to enhance these beliefs. Paper 1 shows that children understand how others might attempt to promote their reputation (to appear smart), rather than to genuinely achieve certain qualities (to be smart). Paper 2 shows that even preschool-aged children try to maintain their reputation in flexible ways: They cheat less to maintain their moral reputation but cheat more to protect their intellectual reputation. Paper 3 shows that preschool-aged children try to change an adult’s belief about their competence depending on her past observation of their failures and successes.

These studies suggest that even young children strategically plan and adjust their behaviors to promote (Paper 1), maintain (Paper 2), and change (Paper 3) others’ beliefs about various qualities of the self, such as intelligence, generosity, moral disposition, and competence. Our discussant will provide an overview synthesizing these findings and discuss how children’s developing ability to reason about others’ minds help children navigate the complex social world, by supporting behaviors that manage others’ beliefs about the self.

Sub Unit

• Social Cognition

Chair

• Hyowon Gweon, Stanford University

Discussant

• Rebecca Saxe, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT

Individual Presentations

• Being versus appearing smart: Children make inferences about behavior based on reputational concerns - Presenting Author: Kayla Good, University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Alex Shaw, University of Chicago

• Young children show sensitivity to specific reputational expectations - Presenting Author: Gail D Heyman, University of California, San Diego; Non-Presenting Author: Li Zhao, Hangzhou Normal University

• “Look, I can do it!” Young children use others’ prior observations to communicate about the self - Presenting Author: Mika Asaba, Stanford University; Non-Presenting Author: Hyowon Gweon, Stanford University