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The impact of choice on young children's prosocial motivation

Diotima J Rapp1, Jan M Engelmann1, Esther Herrmann1

  • 1Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|February 18, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Freedom of choice significantly boosts prosocial motivation in 5-year-olds, especially girls. Offering young children choices enhances their willingness to help others, a key aspect of social development.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Understanding factors influencing children's prosocial behavior is crucial for fostering positive social development.
  • Freedom of choice is hypothesized to play a role in motivating altruistic actions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of freedom of choice on preschoolers' prosocial motivation.
  • To examine age and gender differences in response to choice conditions.

Main Methods:

  • Preschoolers (3- and 5-year-olds) were assigned to either a choice or no-choice condition regarding helping behavior.
  • Prosocial motivation was assessed by measuring helping behavior towards an absent peer when an attractive alternative was present.

Main Results:

  • Five-year-olds in the choice condition exhibited greater prosocial motivation compared to those in the no-choice condition.
  • This effect of choice on prosocial motivation was more pronounced in girls than in boys.
  • No significant difference in prosocial motivation was observed between conditions for 3-year-olds.

Conclusions:

  • Providing young children with freedom of choice can enhance their prosocial motivation.
  • The influence of choice on prosocial behavior emerges by age five and is moderated by gender.
  • Choice appears to be an important factor in the development of young children's prosociality.

Keywords:
Freedom of choiceHelpingInstructed helpingIntrinsic motivationProsocial motivationSocial development

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