Institutional Actors: Children's Emerging Beliefs About the Causal Structure of Social Roles

Institutions make new forms of acting possible: Signing executive orders, scoring goals, and officiating weddings are only possible because of the U.S. government, the rules of soccer, and the institution of marriage. Thus, when an individual occupies a particular social role (president, soccer play...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental psychology 2020-01, Vol.56 (1), p.70-80
Main Authors: Noyes, Alexander, Keil, Frank C., Dunham, Yarrow
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Differences
Behavior Standards
Beliefs
Causality
Child Development
Childhood Development
Children
Childrens Attitudes
Classification
Classification (Cognitive Process)
Cognitive Development
Community Influence
Concepts
Female
Government
Human
Institutions
Male
Marriage
Reasoning
Role
Roles
Soccer
Social Behavior
Social Perception
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Summary:Institutions make new forms of acting possible: Signing executive orders, scoring goals, and officiating weddings are only possible because of the U.S. government, the rules of soccer, and the institution of marriage. Thus, when an individual occupies a particular social role (president, soccer player, and officiator), they acquire new ways of acting on the world. The present studies investigated children's beliefs about institutional actions, and in particular whether children understand that individuals can only perform institutional actions when their community recognizes them as occupying the appropriate social role. Two studies (Study 1, N = 120 children, ages 4-11; Study 2, N = 90 children, ages 4-9) compared institutional actions to standard actions that do not depend on institutional recognition. In both studies, 4- to 5-year-old children believed all actions were possible regardless of whether an individual was recognized as occupying the social role. In contrast, 8- to 9-year-old children robustly distinguished between institutional and standard actions; they understood that institutional actions depend on collective recognition by a community.
ISSN:0012-1649
1939-0599
DOI:10.1037/dev0000847