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Reciprocity Among Preschoolers in Relation to Resource Allocation Toward Siblings, Friends, and Strangers

Hui Jing Lu1, Lei Chang2

  • 11 Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Evolutionary Psychology : an International Journal of Evolutionary Approaches to Psychology and Behavior
|August 30, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Children aged 6 show kin altruism in resource sharing, with reciprocity influencing decisions. Prior sharing experiences impact how children share with friends and strangers, but not siblings.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Behavioral Economics
  • Social Neuroscience

Background:

  • Children's resource allocation strategies evolve with age.
  • Understanding the interplay between kinship and reciprocity in early development is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how prior recipient experience influences children's resource allocation towards kin, friends, and strangers.
  • To determine the emergence of kin altruism and the role of reciprocity in children aged 4-6 years.

Main Methods:

  • Children (4-6 years) participated in resource allocation games.
  • Recipients (sibling, friend, stranger) had previously shared or not shared with the participant.
  • Allocation decisions were analyzed under conditions of self-cost and no-cost, and equal vs. altruistic sharing.

Main Results:

  • Six-year-olds exhibited kin altruism, sharing with siblings regardless of prior experience when costly.
  • Reciprocity influenced sharing with friends and strangers, who only received resources if they had previously shared.
  • Altruistic sharing decisions were influenced by recipient's prior altruistic behavior, especially towards siblings and friends.

Conclusions:

  • Kin altruism in resource allocation emerges around age 6.
  • Reciprocity plays a complex role, partially overriding and reinforcing kin altruism.
  • Early childhood resource allocation demonstrates sophisticated social decision-making influenced by both kinship and social exchange history.

Keywords:
kin altruismpreschoolerreciprocityresource allocationshare

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