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The Influence of Adult and Peer Role Models on Children’ and Adolescents’ Sharing Decisions
Author(s) -
Ruggeri Azzurra,
Luan Shenghua,
Keller Monika,
Gummerum Michaela
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12916
Subject(s) - psychology , affect (linguistics) , developmental psychology , social psychology , social influence , peer influence , promotion (chess) , peer relations , peer group , communication , politics , political science , law
This study explores how the age (adult vs. peer) and the suggestion (to be fair vs. unfair) of models affect the sharing decisions of 9‐ and 12‐year‐olds ( N = 365) from Italy and Singapore. Results demonstrate a developmental shift in the influence of models on children's and adolescents’ sharing decisions in both cultures: Children's decisions were more affected by an adult model's suggestion than by that of a peer model, whereas the opposite was true for adolescents. Regardless of the models’ influence, participants considered equal sharing to be the fair choice and reported being happier when their sharing decisions were generous. Our results highlight the crucial importance of social and developmental factors for the promotion of fairness judgments and emotions.