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Trait or testimony? Children's preferences for positive informants
Rachel C Croce1, Janet J Boseovski1
1Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|November 16, 2019
Summary
Children prioritize positive informant traits over positive speech content when assessing credibility. They endorsed a mean informant with positive testimony but befriended a nice informant with negative testimony, showing age-related shifts in selective social learning.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
- Social Learning Theory
Background:
- Children exhibit a positivity bias, favoring positive information in credibility assessments.
- This bias influences how children evaluate informants in social and nonsocial contexts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether young children prioritize informant traits (nice vs. mean) over speech content (positive vs. negative evaluation) when faced with conflicting information.
- To examine age-related differences in children's selective social learning and trait understanding.
Main Methods:
- 123 children aged 4–8 years participated.
- Children heard stories about a nice informant giving negative feedback and a mean informant giving positive feedback on a painting.
- Participants indicated endorsement, future consultation preference, and friendship choice.
Main Results:
- Children endorsed and preferred to consult the mean informant who provided positive testimony.
- Children chose to befriend the nice informant who provided negative testimony.
- Preference for endorsing positive testimony increased with age.
Conclusions:
- Young children's selective social learning is influenced by a conflict between informant traits and testimony.
- Children differentiate between instrumental (endorsement, consultation) and affective (friendship) judgments.
- Findings contribute to understanding the development of social cognition and selective information processing.
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