Children Differentiate Caring from Liking When Reasoning About Objects

• In Event: Varieties of Value: Factors Influencing Children's Differing Forms of Regard for Objects

Abstract

People value objects in different ways. For example, although you might like a new bicycle at a store, you probably care more about your own bicycle. Previous research shows that children often like their own objects (e.g., Hood & Bloom, 2008) and understand that preferences are subjective (e.g., Repacholi & Gopnik, 1997), however it is unclear whether they distinguish liking from caring and understand that these valuations may not always align. We examined this question in three experiments with children (N=589) and adults (N=415). These experiments pitted the physical attractiveness of objects against ownership, as previous work suggests these factors might differentially contribute to liking and caring (e.g., Gelman et al., 2012; Pesowski & Friedman, 2019).

In Experiment 1 3-7-year-olds and adults were shown two stickers—a plain one belonging to them and a more attractive one belonging to someone else—and were asked which sticker they either liked or cared about the most. Children and adults chose their own plain sticker more when they were asked about caring than liking, p<.001, with younger children more likely than older ones to choose this item, p<.001 (Figure 1). However, there was an interaction, p=.031: The age-related decline in children's choices of their own sticker was stronger for liking than caring, p<.001 and p=.049, respectively.

Experiment 2 used a similar procedure, except 3-6-year-olds and adults were asked about which objects others care about and like. In each of four trials, participants saw a picture of a child and a pair of objects. One object in each pair was plain and belonged to the child in the picture, and the other object was more attractive and belonged to someone else. Participants were asked which item the child cared about and which item the child liked the most. Again, both children and adults were relatively more likely to indicate the plain owned objects when inferring caring than liking, p=.002, with younger children more likely than older children to choose these items, p=.015 (Figure 2). However, there was an interaction, p=.023: Older children were more likely than younger ones to infer the agent likes the more attractive object, p=.001, whereas caring judgments did not vary with age, p=.907.

Experiment 3 examined the possibility that children in the first two experiments did not consider ownership and based their judgements solely on the appearance of the objects. In each of two trials, 4-6-year-olds were shown a picture of a child and two identical-looking objects. They were told that one item belonged to the child and the other item belonged to someone else, and then were asked questions about caring and liking. Children mostly inferred that others care about and like their own possessions more than other objects, p=.001; suggesting that children do consider ownership when inferring caring and liking.

Together these studies reveal that children differentiate caring from liking and understand that a person can concurrently have varying valuations of objects. They also suggest that children's valuations are influenced by material aspects (attractiveness) and non-material relations (ownership).

Authors

• Madison Pesowski, University of California - San Diego
  Presenting Author

• Venus Ho, University of Waterloo
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ori Friedman, University of Waterloo
  Non-Presenting Author