1-037 - Bridging normative reasoning and altruistic behavior: Cognitive, social, affective, and normative dimensions of human altruism

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Altruism, or the propensity to share valuable resources with others at a personal cost, is ubiquitous across cultures and is a critical hallmark of human social interaction. In spite of its pervasiveness and importance, we know relatively little about how specifically it is acquired. To what extent is altruism influenced by social norms vs. endogenously? How specifically are social norms surrounding altruism transmitted, and which social norms are most easily transferred between adults and children? This symposium explores four methods through which social norms surrounding altruism are learned. Paper 1 looks at the impact of parents’ talk about emotion on children’s consideration of others’ needs. Paper 1 also focuses on early emotional experiences and finds that children who are victims of transgressions are, in turn, more considerate of others’ needs. Paper 2 demonstrates that children’s altruism can be enhanced by training another core cognitive competency: numerical cognition. Paper 3 looks at how fairness norms transmitted through two distinct cultural forms (adult-given testimony and storybooks) may change 6-7-year-olds’ resource distribution behaviors. Finally, Paper 4 looks at the role of two types of social norms (injunctive and descriptive) in 4-9-year-olds’ giving behavior. Together, the talks span a broad range of ages (18 months to 9 years) and a diverse set of methodologies. While Papers 1 and 2 look at mechanisms endogenous to the child (emotion, cognition), Papers 3 and 4 look at more exogenous mechanisms (socio-cultural norms). All papers share a focus on how early normative reasoning may influence children’s altruistic tendencies.

Sub Unit

• Social Cognition

Chair

• Nadia Chernyak, Boston University

Individual Presentations

• Thinking about others: what can help children to be considerate - Presenting Author: Margarita Svetlova, Duke University

• Bridging social and cognitive development: Learning to count promotes preschoolers’ abilities to share resources fairly - Presenting Author: Nadia Chernyak, Boston University; Paul Lansley Harris, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Sara Cordes, Boston College

• The moral, not the story: Changing children’s beliefs about distributive justice - Presenting Author: Joshua Rottman, Franklin and Marshall College; Liane Young, Boston College; Peter R Blake, Boston University; Deb Kelemen, Boston University

• Children are sensitive to norms of giving - Presenting Author: Katherine McAuliffe, Boston College; Nichola J Raihani, University College London; Yarrow Dunham, yarrow.dunham@yale.edu