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Children strategically conceal selfishness.

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Young children can use knowledge differences to be selfish. In a game, proposers who knew the total amount offered less to responders, deceiving them about fairness.

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Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Behavioral Economics
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Understanding the development of prosocial behavior and deception in children is crucial.
  • Knowledge asymmetry, where one party has more information than another, can influence strategic decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether children aged 6-9 can exploit knowledge asymmetries to act selfishly.
  • To examine the role of information in children's fairness judgments and strategic offers.

Main Methods:

  • A modified Ultimatum Game was used with 164 children (6-9 years old).
  • Participants were assigned roles as proposers or responders.
  • Two conditions were implemented: Informed (both players knew the endowment) and Uninformed (only proposers knew).

Main Results:

  • In the Uninformed condition, proposers frequently made strategically selfish offers.
  • These offers appeared fair to responders due to their limited knowledge but were objectively unfair.
  • Children demonstrated an ability to deceive others regarding their selfishness.

Conclusions:

  • Even young children can leverage informational advantages to engage in selfish behavior.
  • The findings highlight the early development of strategic deception and understanding of others' knowledge states.