Testing the bounds of compassion in young children
Extensive research shows that, under the right circumstances, children are highly prosocial. Extending an already published paradigm, we aimed here to determine what factors might facilitate and inhibit compassionate behaviour. Across five experiments (N = 285), we provide new insight into the bound...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Royal Society
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.221448 |
| _version_ | 1797858600746483712 |
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| author | James N. Kirby Kelly Kirkland Matti Wilks Mitchell Green Porntida Tanjitpiyanond Nafisa Chowdhury Mark Nielsen |
| author_facet | James N. Kirby Kelly Kirkland Matti Wilks Mitchell Green Porntida Tanjitpiyanond Nafisa Chowdhury Mark Nielsen |
| author_sort | James N. Kirby |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Extensive research shows that, under the right circumstances, children are highly prosocial. Extending an already published paradigm, we aimed here to determine what factors might facilitate and inhibit compassionate behaviour. Across five experiments (N = 285), we provide new insight into the bounds of 4- to 5-year-old children's compassionate behaviour. In the first three experiments, we varied cost of compassion by changing the reward (Study 1), using explicit instructions (Study 2) and ownership (Study 3). In the final two experiments, we varied the target of the compassionate behaviour, examining adults compared with puppet targets (Study 4), and whether the target was an in-group member (Study 5). We found strong evidence that cost reduces compassionate responding. By contrast, the recipient of compassion did not appear to influence responding: children were equally likely to help a human adult and a puppet, and an in-group member and neutral agent. These findings demonstrate that for young children, personal cost appears to be a greater inhibitor to compassionate responding than who compassion is directed toward. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T21:15:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-20bb1523f5064b858bf6b428b6a92ed9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T21:15:57Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-20bb1523f5064b858bf6b428b6a92ed92023-03-28T08:51:00ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032023-02-0110210.1098/rsos.221448Testing the bounds of compassion in young childrenJames N. Kirby0Kelly Kirkland1Matti Wilks2Mitchell Green3Porntida Tanjitpiyanond4Nafisa Chowdhury5Mark Nielsen6School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, AustraliaMelbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, AustraliaDepartment of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UKSchool of Psychology, The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, AustraliaSchool of Psychology, The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, AustraliaSchool of Psychology, The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, AustraliaSchool of Psychology, The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, AustraliaExtensive research shows that, under the right circumstances, children are highly prosocial. Extending an already published paradigm, we aimed here to determine what factors might facilitate and inhibit compassionate behaviour. Across five experiments (N = 285), we provide new insight into the bounds of 4- to 5-year-old children's compassionate behaviour. In the first three experiments, we varied cost of compassion by changing the reward (Study 1), using explicit instructions (Study 2) and ownership (Study 3). In the final two experiments, we varied the target of the compassionate behaviour, examining adults compared with puppet targets (Study 4), and whether the target was an in-group member (Study 5). We found strong evidence that cost reduces compassionate responding. By contrast, the recipient of compassion did not appear to influence responding: children were equally likely to help a human adult and a puppet, and an in-group member and neutral agent. These findings demonstrate that for young children, personal cost appears to be a greater inhibitor to compassionate responding than who compassion is directed toward.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.221448compassioncompetitionchildrencostmotivation |
| spellingShingle | James N. Kirby Kelly Kirkland Matti Wilks Mitchell Green Porntida Tanjitpiyanond Nafisa Chowdhury Mark Nielsen Testing the bounds of compassion in young children Royal Society Open Science compassion competition children cost motivation |
| title | Testing the bounds of compassion in young children |
| title_full | Testing the bounds of compassion in young children |
| title_fullStr | Testing the bounds of compassion in young children |
| title_full_unstemmed | Testing the bounds of compassion in young children |
| title_short | Testing the bounds of compassion in young children |
| title_sort | testing the bounds of compassion in young children |
| topic | compassion competition children cost motivation |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.221448 |
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