Young children value recipients who display gratitude

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Gratitude is a positive social emotion linked to reciprocity and prosocial behavior.
• Prior research has not fully explored the social functions of displaying gratitude.
• Gratitude displays signal a recipient's trustworthiness and reliability as a cooperative partner.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the developmental sensitivity of children to the social functions of gratitude displays.
• To determine when children understand that gratitude signals trustworthiness and cooperation.

Main Methods:

• Children aged 4 and 5 years watched videos of beneficiaries receiving gifts.
• One beneficiary displayed gratitude, while the other did not.
• Children's preferences, judgments of trustworthiness, and resource distribution were assessed.

Main Results:

• Five-year-olds preferred the grateful recipient, predicted greater reciprocity, and allocated more resources to her.
• Four-year-olds showed similar, but less consistent, patterns.
• Gratitude displays influenced children's affiliation and cooperation decisions.

Conclusions:

• Gratitude displays elicit affiliation and cooperation from a young age (preschool years).
• These findings highlight the vital social and cooperative functions of expressing gratitude.
• Children's understanding of gratitude's social signaling role develops during the preschool years.