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Leaving a Choice for Others: Children’s Evaluations of Considerate, Socially‐Mindful Actions
Author(s) -
Zhao Xin,
Zhao Xuan,
Gweon Hyowon,
Kushnir Tamar
Publication year - 2021
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.13480
Subject(s) - psychology , value (mathematics) , social psychology , beneficiary , cognition , developmental psychology , character (mathematics) , geometry , mathematics , finance , machine learning , neuroscience , computer science , economics
People value those who act with others in mind even as they pursue their own goals. Across three studies ( N = 566; 4‐ to 6‐year‐olds), we investigated children’s developing understanding of such considerate, socially‐mindful actions. By age 6, both U.S. and Chinese children positively evaluate a character who takes a snack for herself in a way that leaves a snack choice for others over a character who leaves no choice (Study 1), but only when the actors had alternative possible actions (Study 2) and when a clear beneficiary was present (Study 3). These results suggest an emerging ability to infer underlying social intentions from self‐oriented actions, providing insights into the role of social‐cognitive capacities versus culture‐specific norms in children’s moral evaluations.