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Being versus appearing smart: Children's developing intuitions about how reputational motives guide behavior
1Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Child Development
|March 15, 2022
Summary
Children understand that caring about reputation can lead to dishonesty and social avoidance. As children age, they recognize these behaviors and view the reputation-focused individual less favorably.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Children engage in reputation management to create a positive self-image.
- Understanding children's ability to predict behaviors based on reputational motives is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate when children utilize reputational motives to anticipate others' actions.
- To examine how children perceive individuals motivated by appearing competent versus being competent.
Main Methods:
- Five studies were conducted with 576 children aged 4 to 9 years.
- Participants heard stories differentiating between intrinsic competence and reputational focus.
- Children's predictions of behavior and character likability were assessed.
Main Results:
- With increasing age, children predicted the reputationally motivated child would lie more to conceal failure.
- Older children also predicted this child would be less likely to seek help publicly and downplay success.
- The reputationally motivated child was perceived less favorably as children aged.
Conclusions:
- Children develop an understanding of reputation management and its behavioral consequences.
- Findings offer insights into children's social cognition, achievement motivation, and social-evaluative judgments.
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