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Further Evidence for Infants' Preference for Prosocial Over Antisocial Behaviors
Author(s) -
Scola Celine,
Holvoet Claire,
Arciszewski Thomas,
Picard Delphine
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
infancy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.361
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1532-7078
pISSN - 1525-0008
DOI - 10.1111/infa.12095
Subject(s) - psychology , prosocial behavior , developmental psychology , preference , microeconomics , economics
This study extends the findings that young infants prefer prosocial to antisocial others ( H amlin & W ynn, C ognitive D evelopment 2011, 26 , 30; H amlin, W ynn, & B loom, N ature 2007, 450 , 557) to older infants (12–24 and 24–36 months) with a novel display. We presented infants with short cartoons in which a character (the “Protoganist”) engaged in a ball play with two others, one acting prosocially (the “Giver”), and the other antisocially (the “Keeper”). Afterward, infants were presented with the Giver and the Keeper characters and encouraged to reach for the one of their choices. We found that infants exhibited robust choice for the Giver. In addition, infants' preference for the Giver persisted despite changes in facial features (dark skin, scrambled face). These findings provide further evidence for infant's preference for prosociality.