Development of Considerateness in Preschoolers

• In Event: 1-147 - Keeping Others in Mind: New Evidence for Selective and Effective Prosociality in Toddlers and Young Children

Integrative Statement

The first step toward acting prosocially is to pay attention to others. Very young children are notorious for being self-centered, but gradually, they develop interest in others and eventually concern for others’ well-being. What social experiences contribute to these developments? The current studies examine preschoolers’ abilities to act with others in mind, and whether the experience of being “in the other’s shoes” can help them to be more considerate.

In Study 1, conducted in a mid-size European city, 3-year-old children (N=96) played a game where they had to place a big sticker on a small board that had only space for two stickers. Children’s prepotent response in the baseline condition (with no space restrictions) was to place the sticker in the middle of the board. In three experimental conditions, only one board was available. When the child was ready to place their first sticker, the experimenter held up a second sticker, describing it either as “for you to use later” (Self condition) or “for the next child” (Considerateness condition). Additionally, in the Experience condition, the child first experienced not being able to play the game because of a “previous child’s” inconsiderate behavior. In all conditions, we measured whether children would place their first sticker in a way that would leave room for the next sticker (on the side of the board). Only 21% of the children showed spontaneous considerateness by leaving room for the next child’s sticker. Fifty percent of children left room for their own second sticker, suggesting that the problem was not with spatial planning. After experiencing someone else’s inconsiderateness, 42% of children left room for the next child’s sticker, suggesting that being “in another’s shoes” may help them think about others in subsequent tasks.

In Study 2, we administered the same tasks to 3-year-olds (N=80) and 5-year-olds (N=80) living in a mid-size American city. We roughly replicated the results of Study 1 for 3-year-olds, suggesting cross-cultural similarities in young children’s abilities to keep others in mind. We found that 5-year-olds tended to behave more thoughtfully than 3-year-olds in all the experimental conditions (see Fig. 1).

Children’s abilities to behave with others in mind thus develop over the preschool years, and experiencing someone else’s inconsiderate behavior can help both younger and older children to be more aware of the consequences of their own actions toward others.

Authors

• Margarita Svetlova, Duke University
  Presenting Author

• Phoebe Caplin, Duke University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Celia Kohler, Duke University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mahnoor Nazeer, Duke University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Victoria Trimm, Duke University
  Non-Presenting Author