Do children value intellectual humility over intellectual arrogance?

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Social Cognition
• Moral Reasoning

Background:

• Children's social judgments often balance confidence with accuracy.
• Understanding how children evaluate intellectual humility versus arrogance is crucial.
• Previous research suggests a preference for confidence, but calibration's role is less clear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether children prefer intellectually humble individuals over intellectually arrogant ones.
• To determine if age influences children's preference for intellectual humility.
• To examine children's evaluation of intellectual humility across different accuracy conditions.

Main Methods:

• Two studies were conducted with 229 children aged 4 to 11 years.
• Participants evaluated hypothetical individuals described as intellectually humble or arrogant.
• Evaluations focused on likability, knowledge, niceness, and perceived intelligence.

Main Results:

• Children aged 5.5 years and older preferred intellectually humble individuals over arrogant ones.
• This preference for intellectual humility strengthened with increasing age.
• Children favored intellectual humility regardless of whether the individual's accuracy was clear or uncertain.

Conclusions:

• Children do not consistently prioritize unwarranted confidence over calibrated uncertainty in social judgments.
• Intellectual humility is valued by children, with preference increasing through development.
• Future research should explore the underlying mechanisms driving children's preference for intellectual humility.