Why Does Children's Generosity Increase with Age: Susceptibility to Experimenter Influence or Altruism?

This study evaluated whether age differences in children's generosity are due to increasing altruistic motivation or increasing susceptibility to experimenter influence strategies. 282 first, third, and fifth graders voted on how to spend a gift of money under 1 of 5 instructional sets-3 levels...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child development 1985-06, Vol.56 (3), p.746-756
Main Authors: Zarbatany, Lynne, Hartmann, Donald P., Gelfand, Donna M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
A priori knowledge
Adults
Age
Altruism
Biological and medical sciences
Charitable behavior
Charity
Child
Child Development
Children
Conformity
Developmental psychology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Male
Motivation
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Set (Psychology)
Surveillance
Voting
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Summary:This study evaluated whether age differences in children's generosity are due to increasing altruistic motivation or increasing susceptibility to experimenter influence strategies. 282 first, third, and fifth graders voted on how to spend a gift of money under 1 of 5 instructional sets-3 levels of experimenter influence, peer influence, or no influence. Voting choices (in increasing order of generosity according to experimenter-defined scoring weights) were splitting up the money equally among class members, buying something for their class, buying something for their school, or giving the money to poor children. Voting choices also were scored according to empirically derived weights based on rankings provided by an independent sample of 50 first, third, and fifth graders. Both scoring systems indicated that fifth graders were more generous than younger children, but only under high levels of experimenter demand, and peer influence did not increase children's generosity. Furthermore, first graders appeared more generous when the child-derived rather than the experimenter-derived scoring system was used. Thus generalizations regarding age differences in generosity observed in laboratory experiments may require qualification, specifying the degree and type of experimenter influence involved.
ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
DOI:10.2307/1129763