Children and Adults use Cost and Need to Make Evaluations About Generosity

• In Event: Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Topic - Moral Development

Abstract

It is broadly demonstrated that children and adults form judgements regarding the generosity and kindness of others (Tasimi & Wynn, 2015; Klein & Epley, 2014). These judgements are made using a range of factors. Need and cost are two factors implicated in first-person generous actions. Children, and even infants, demonstrate an ability to register the costs of others in helping behaviors (Jara-Ettinger et al., 2015; Sommerville et al., 2018). Similarly, children recognize the needs of others in instrumental helping tasks (Paulus, 2020). Although it is intuitive to assume that children and adults use need and cost when evaluating the others’ generosity, it has not been formally demonstrated. The present study investigates whether 6- and 7-year-old children and adults consider need and cost when evaluating others’ generosity, and whether these factors are considered across different circumstances.

Experiments 1 and 2 investigated whether children (n = 24) and adults (n = 64) consider need and cost when asked to compare the generosity of two givers. Participants were shown scenarios involving two givers and two recipients, with some manipulating the cost of the giving actions and some manipulating the need of the recipients. Following each scenario, participants chose which character they thought was more generous (see Figure 1). Results show that children and adults considered need (children: t(23) = 16.27, p < .001; adults: t(61) = 34.41, p = < .001) and cost (children: t(23) = 8.00, p < .001; adults: t(61) = 46.39, p = < .001) in their evaluations of others’ generosity (see Figure 2). These results suggest that children and adults rely on systematic factors (need and cost) when making comparative generosity inferences.

In the real world, individuals make generosity inferences in the absence of comparison points; thus, we sought to determine whether our findings extend to circumstances involving stand-alone judgement. Experiments 3 and 4 investigated whether children (n = 36) and adults (n = 96) consider need and cost when rating givers on a continuous scale. Participants completed the same task as Experiments 1 and 2, however each scenario featured one giver and one recipient, and participants rated the generosity of the giver as “a little,” “a medium amount,” or “a lot” generous (see Figure 1). We found a similar trend to Experiments 1 and 2, in that children and adults incorporated need (children: F(1, 35) = 5.25, p = .03; adults: F(1, 95) = 31.66, p = < .001) and cost (children: F(1, 35) = 8.90, p = .005; adults: F(1, 96) = 220.97, p = < .001) into their generosity inferences (see Figure 2). The results of Experiments 3 and 4 provide a conceptual replication of Experiments 1 and 2, while showing that need and cost are used systematically in a range of circumstances.

Overall, our study suggests that children and adults consider need and cost when making comparative and stand-alone prosocial evaluations. Contrary to the belief that prosocial evaluations are unique to situations, we show that children and adults rely on systematic factors when evaluating generosity.

Authors

• Emily Onyshko, University of Toronto
  Presenting Author

• Quang (David) Tri Huynh, University of Toronto
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mia Radovanovic, University of Toronto
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jessica A Sommerville, University of Toronto
  Non-Presenting Author