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Young children's reputational strategies in a peer group context.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Rapp, DJ; Engelmann, JM; Herrmann, E; Tomasello, M
Published in: Developmental psychology
February 2019

Reputational concerns are known to promote cooperation. Individuals regularly act more prosocially when their behavior is observable by others. Here, we investigate 4- and 5-year-old (N = 144) children's reputational strategies in a competitive group setting. The aim of the current study was to explore whether children's sharing behavior is affected by the future possibility of being singled out publicly as the most generous or, alternatively, the least generous member of the group. Children were told that they could share stickers with other children and that the picture of either the (1) most generous or (2) least generous donor would be displayed publicly. In both conditions, children shared significantly more than in a control condition. Moreover, 5-year-old, but not 4-year-old children's sharing was affected more by the possibility of being presented as the most generous than being presented as the least generous member of the group. This study is the first to show that children as young as 4 invest in their future reputation and that by age 5 children flexibly apply different reputational strategies depending on context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Duke Scholars

Published In

Developmental psychology

DOI

EISSN

1939-0599

ISSN

0012-1649

Publication Date

February 2019

Volume

55

Issue

2

Start / End Page

329 / 336

Related Subject Headings

  • Peer Group
  • Male
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Developmental & Child Psychology
  • Cooperative Behavior
  • Child, Preschool
  • Child Development
  • Child Behavior
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Rapp, D. J., Engelmann, J. M., Herrmann, E., & Tomasello, M. (2019). Young children's reputational strategies in a peer group context. Developmental Psychology, 55(2), 329–336. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000639
Rapp, Diotima J., Jan M. Engelmann, Esther Herrmann, and Michael Tomasello. “Young children's reputational strategies in a peer group context.Developmental Psychology 55, no. 2 (February 2019): 329–36. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000639.
Rapp DJ, Engelmann JM, Herrmann E, Tomasello M. Young children's reputational strategies in a peer group context. Developmental psychology. 2019 Feb;55(2):329–36.
Rapp, Diotima J., et al. “Young children's reputational strategies in a peer group context.Developmental Psychology, vol. 55, no. 2, Feb. 2019, pp. 329–36. Epmc, doi:10.1037/dev0000639.
Rapp DJ, Engelmann JM, Herrmann E, Tomasello M. Young children's reputational strategies in a peer group context. Developmental psychology. 2019 Feb;55(2):329–336.

Published In

Developmental psychology

DOI

EISSN

1939-0599

ISSN

0012-1649

Publication Date

February 2019

Volume

55

Issue

2

Start / End Page

329 / 336

Related Subject Headings

  • Peer Group
  • Male
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Developmental & Child Psychology
  • Cooperative Behavior
  • Child, Preschool
  • Child Development
  • Child Behavior