Explaining early moral hypocrisy: Numerical cognition promotes equal sharing behavior in preschool-aged children

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Preschool-aged children understand sharing norms but often fail to share resources equally.
• Previous research suggests potential reasons include insufficient motivation or cognitive resources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of numerical cognition, specifically understanding the cardinal principle, in children's ability to share equally.
• To test the insufficient motivation versus insufficient cognitive resources hypotheses for unequal sharing.

Main Methods:

• Experiment 1: Assessed preschoolers' numerical cognition and fair sharing behaviors, examining mediation by numerical skills.
• Experiment 2: Examined the relationship between numerical cognition and knowledge of equality norms.

Main Results:

• Preschoolers' numerical cognition fully explained age-related improvements in fair sharing.
• Failures in equal sharing were linked to numerical knowledge, not a lack of motivation.
• Numerical cognition was not associated with understanding the norms of equality.

Conclusions:

• The gap between knowing and doing fairness may stem from differing cognitive demands of conceptual versus behavioral equality.
• Numerical cognition is a key factor underpinning children's ability to share resources equally.