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Young Children's Theory of Mind Predicts More Sharing With Friends Over Time

Jennifer Vonk1, Stephanie E Jett2, Theodore S Tomeny3

  • 1Oakland University.

Child Development
|July 1, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Young children

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Prosocial behavior in children is crucial for social development.
  • Understanding factors influencing sharing behavior in early childhood is important.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the development of prosocial sharing behavior in children aged 3-6 years.
  • To investigate the influence of age, recipient type, and theory of mind on sharing.

Main Methods:

  • A prosocial choice test was administered to 145 children (aged 3-6 years) at two time points, 10 months apart.
  • Children made choices to share rewards with strangers, friends, nonfriends, or no recipient.
  • Theory of Mind (ToM) was assessed.

Main Results:

  • Children increased sharing with friends over time.
  • Older children showed higher prosocial allocations to friends and strangers compared to younger children.
  • Higher ToM scores predicted increased prosocial allocations to friends, especially in younger children.

Conclusions:

  • Sharing behavior with friends develops significantly during early childhood.
  • Theory of Mind plays a key role in the development of prosociality, particularly in sharing with friends.
  • Age and cognitive abilities like ToM are critical predictors of children's prosocial choices.

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