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A Comparison of American and Nepalese Children's Concepts of Freedom of Choice and Social Constraint
Author(s) -
Chernyak Nadia,
Kushnir Tamar,
Sullivan Katherine M.,
Wang Qi
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.498
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1551-6709
pISSN - 0364-0213
DOI - 10.1111/cogs.12046
Subject(s) - action (physics) , constraint (computer aided design) , freedom of choice , psychology , social psychology , developmental psychology , sociology , political science , law , mathematics , physics , geometry , quantum mechanics
Recent work has shown that preschool‐aged children and adults understand freedom of choice regardless of culture, but that adults across cultures differ in perceiving social obligations as constraints on action. To investigate the development of these cultural differences and universalities, we interviewed school‐aged children (4–11) in Nepal and the United States regarding beliefs about people's freedom of choice and constraint to follow preferences, perform impossible acts, and break social obligations. Children across cultures and ages universally endorsed the choice to follow preferences but not to perform impossible acts. Age and culture effects also emerged: Young children in both cultures viewed social obligations as constraints on action, but American children did so less as they aged. These findings suggest that while basic notions of free choice are universal, recognitions of social obligations as constraints on action may be culturally learned.