Preschool children's behavioral tendency toward social indirect reciprocity.

ABSTRACT: Social indirect reciprocity seems to be crucial in enabling large-scale cooperative networks among genetically unrelated individuals in humans. However, there are relatively few studies on social indirect reciprocity in children compared to adults. Investigating whether young children have a behavioral tendency toward social indirect reciprocity will help us understand how and when the fundamental ability to form cooperative relationships among adults is acquired. Using naturalistic observation at a nursery school, this study examined whether 5- to 6-year-olds show a behavioral tendency to engage in social indirect reciprocity in response to their peers' prosocial behavior toward a third party. The results revealed that bystander children tended to display prosocial behavior toward their p

SUBMITTER: Kato-Shimizu M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3737253 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature