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Direct cost does not impact on young children's spontaneous helping behavior
Mark Nielsen1, Julia Gigante2, Emma Collier-Baker2
1Early Cognitive Development Centre, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland Brisbane, QLD, Australia ; School of Applied Human Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal Durban, South Africa.
Frontiers in Psychology
|January 8, 2015
Summary
Young children exhibit strong altruistic tendencies, readily helping others even when it incurs a personal cost. This innate prosocial behavior in children was observed regardless of potential rewards or costs.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Human prosocial behavior is unique, with individuals helping strangers at personal cost.
- Limited empirical data exists on altruistic tendencies in young children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the altruistic tendencies of 4-year-old children.
- To examine how personal costs and benefits influence children's helping behavior.
Main Methods:
- 45 four-year-olds participated in a task requiring them to help an adult confederate retrieve a reward.
- Conditions included a control group, a cost condition (children forgo reward), and a benefit condition (children receive reward).
Main Results:
- Children provided help at near-ceiling levels across all conditions.
- Contrary to hypotheses, children's helping was not significantly reduced by personal cost.
Conclusions:
- Four-year-olds demonstrate robust altruism, unaffected by personal cost or benefit.
- Innate prosocial behavior in humans may be present from a very young age.
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