Young children mostly keep, and expect others to keep, their promises

Patricia Kanngiesser1, Bahar Köymen2, Michael Tomasello3

  • 1Faculty of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 01403 Leipzig, Germany.

Summary

Young children understand the importance of promises. Both 3- and 5-year-olds expect others to keep promises and feel obligated to keep their own, especially in prosocial situations.

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