Preschoolers Expect Generalized Reciprocity, but Only Older Preschoolers Show a Beginning Normative Understanding of Reciprocity

• In Event: The Different Faces of Generous Giving: Children’s Understanding of Generalized, Strategic, and Corrupt Reciprocity

Abstract

Reciprocity has been proposed to be a key mechanism in regulating social interactions and human cooperation (Axelrod & Hamilton, 1981). A host of studies has shown that preschoolers engage in reciprocal behaviors (e.g., Sebastian-Enesco & Warneken, 2015). However, little is known on how preschoolers think about and represent the principle of reciprocity, that is, if they have a social-cognitive understanding of reciprocity. Thus, it remains an open question if preschoolers expect generalized reciprocity from other agents and if they have a norm that one should engage in reciprocal behavior. Both would be directly indicative of a social-cognitive understanding of reciprocity. The present studies addressed these questions.

Study 1 explored preschoolers’ expectations of reciprocity towards different agents (reciprocal agent, neutral agent). To this end, 3 to 6-year-olds (N = 106) predicted others’ reciprocal behavior of positive and negative acts towards agents who had previously shared with a recipient and towards a neutral, uninvolved agent. That is, in the first phase children watched an actor puppet share in either a stingy or a generous way with a recipient puppet. Subsequently, preschoolers had to predict how many items the recipient puppet would share with the actor puppet (direct reciprocity) and the neutral other (generalized reciprocity). Results showed that that, irrespective of the potential recipient (p = .66), children expected the recipient puppet to share more in the generous than in the stingy condition (p < .001). No relevant age effects were found. These results show that 3 to 6-year-olds expect others to engage not only in direct, but also in generalized reciprocity.

Study 2 aimed to investigate whether preschoolers show a normative understanding of reciprocity. To this end, 3 to 6-year-olds (N = 92) observed a protagonist either reciprocate the sharing of resources (following norm of reciprocity) or not reciprocate the sharing of resources (violating norm of reciprocity). In each condition children had the opportunity to punish/reward the protagonist, evaluate the protagonist’s action, and affirm/protest against the protagonist’s behavior. Results indicated that 5 to 6-year-olds but not 3 to 4-year-olds evaluated the protagonist violating the reciprocity norm negatively (p < .001) and consistently affirmed the norm compliant protagonist (p = .007). This shows that older but not younger preschoolers begin to endorse reciprocity as a normative entitlement.

Taken together, these results suggest that preschoolers show expectations of generalized reciprocity towards other agents and that only older preschoolers evidence a normative understanding of reciprocity. Thus, the present research suggests that already preschoolers have a social-cognitive representation of reciprocity. By the early preschool years, children seem to have formed generalized expectations regarding reciprocal behavior. From there on, preschoolers develop a normative and thus more complex understanding of reciprocity in the later preschool years, helping them to further understand the social rules governing reciprocal behavior and thus navigating the social world.

Authors

• Samuel Essler, Ludwig-Maximilans-Universität München
  Presenting Author

• Monika Wörle, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
  Non-Presenting Author

• Markus Paulus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
  Non-Presenting Author