Children Incorporate Intentions into Their Evaluations of Prosocial Agents

• In Event: Correlates of empathy and prosocial behavior

Abstract

Humans rely heavily on cooperative relationships to accomplish tasks that they cannot achieve alone (Tomasello, 2009). Importantly, the evolution of large-scale cooperative societies necessitates extending cooperation beyond known others to novel individuals. Thus, a critical social task is to identify new cooperative partners who promise to be dependable and trustworthy in the future. Since information is limited about new potential cooperative partners, individuals must base their evaluations and predictions of future prosocial behavior on their potential partner’s previous cooperative behavior (Hamlin, 2013). To make these predictions reliable and accurate, it is not enough to use the consequences of individuals’ prior actions alone; one must also take into account the mental states motivating those actions (Cushman, 2008). A cooperative partner’s prosocial motivations may span anywhere from altruistic to egoistic. Understanding the motivation behind someone’s prosocial actions thus helps one distinguish between self-interested versus truly generous cooperative partners (Gul & Pesendorfer, 2016).
Prior work indicates that prosocial actors’ motivations greatly influence adults’ emotions, behavioral responses, and evaluation of the person (Tsang, 2006). However, most research on children’s use of intention information concerns children’s understanding of and responses to the intentions behind antisocial behaviors (Cushman et al., 2013; Margoni & Surian, 2017). Very little is known to date about the development of children’s sensitivity to prosocial agents’ intentions. The present studies were designed to examine this question.
To assess children's sensitivity to intentions, 4 to 9- to year-olds (N=96) heard stories about two prosocial agents who helped a child achieve a goal and shared material resources with the child. One prosocial agent was motivated by concern for the recipient whereas the other agent was motivated by a desire for reciprocity. After hearing the stories, children evaluated the prosocial agents, rated the recipient's emotional state, and predicted the prosocial agents’ prospective helping and recipient's desire to affiliate and reciprocate. Findings revealed an outcome-to-intent shift both in evaluations of the prosocial agent and the predicted recipient's emotions. Specifically, 6- to 9-year-olds, but not 4- to 5-year-olds, evaluated the agent who acted out of concern more positively than the agent who acted out of a desire for reciprocity (both ps< .022). Further, 8- to 9-year-olds, but not 4- to 7-year-olds, endorsed more recipient happiness when the agent’s prosocial behaviors were motivated by concern for the recipient (both ps< .001). While only 8-to 9-year-olds thought the concerned agent was more likely to be helpful in the future and deserved reciprocity, most children, regardless of age, said the recipient would affiliate with this agent (all ps<.007).
Overall, the present study shows that as children age, they evaluate not only the outcome of prosocial behavior but also consider the intention behind that behavior. Importantly, this is the first evidence that children incorporate altruistic and egoistic intentions into their moral judgments and predictions of others' behavior. Thus, children seem to understand and use an individual's intentions from an early age. This crucial skill allows individuals to choose reliable and trustworthy future partners, facilitating the establishment of positive, cooperative relationships.

Authors

• Stefen Beeler-Duden, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Amrisha Vaish, University of Virginia - Charlottesville