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Asking Children to “Be Helpers” Can Backfire After Setbacks
Author(s) -
FosterHanson Emily,
Cimpian Andrei,
Leshin Rachel A.,
Rhodes Marjorie
Publication year - 2018
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.13147
Subject(s) - psychology , helping behavior , social psychology , developmental psychology , prosocial behavior
Describing behaviors as reflecting categories (e.g., asking children to “be helpers”) has been found to increase pro‐social behavior. The present studies ( N = 139, ages 4–5) tested whether such effects backfire if children experience setbacks while performing category‐relevant actions. In Study 1, children were asked either to “be helpers” or “to help,” and then pretended to complete a series of successful scenarios (e.g., pouring milk) and unsuccessful scenarios (e.g., spilling milk while trying to pour). After the unsuccessful trials, children asked to “be helpers” had more negative attitudes. In Study 2, asking children to “be helpers” impeded children's helping behavior after they experienced difficulties while trying to help. Implications for how category labels shape beliefs and behavior are discussed.