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Young children share the spoils after collaboration

Publication ,  Journal Article
Warneken, F; Lohse, K; Melis, AP; Tomasello, M
Published in: Psychological Science
January 1, 2011

Egalitarian behavior is considered to be a species-typical component of human cooperation. Human adults tend to share resources equally, even if they have the opportunity to keep a larger portion for themselves. Recent experiments have suggested that this tendency emerges fairly late in human ontogeny, not before 6 or 7 years of age. Here we show that 3-year-old children share mostly equally with a peer after they have worked together actively to obtain rewards in a collaboration task, even when those rewards could easily be monopolized. These findings contrast with previous findings from a similar experiment with chimpanzees, who tended to monopolize resources whenever they could. The potentially species-unique tendency of humans to share equally emerges early in ontogeny, perhaps originating in collaborative interactions among peers. © The Author(s) 2011.

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Published In

Psychological Science

DOI

EISSN

1467-9280

ISSN

0956-7976

Publication Date

January 1, 2011

Volume

22

Issue

2

Start / End Page

267 / 273

Related Subject Headings

  • Experimental Psychology
  • 52 Psychology
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology
 

Citation

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Chicago
ICMJE
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Warneken, F., Lohse, K., Melis, A. P., & Tomasello, M. (2011). Young children share the spoils after collaboration. Psychological Science, 22(2), 267–273. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610395392
Warneken, F., K. Lohse, A. P. Melis, and M. Tomasello. “Young children share the spoils after collaboration.” Psychological Science 22, no. 2 (January 1, 2011): 267–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610395392.
Warneken F, Lohse K, Melis AP, Tomasello M. Young children share the spoils after collaboration. Psychological Science. 2011 Jan 1;22(2):267–73.
Warneken, F., et al. “Young children share the spoils after collaboration.” Psychological Science, vol. 22, no. 2, Jan. 2011, pp. 267–73. Scopus, doi:10.1177/0956797610395392.
Warneken F, Lohse K, Melis AP, Tomasello M. Young children share the spoils after collaboration. Psychological Science. 2011 Jan 1;22(2):267–273.
Journal cover image

Published In

Psychological Science

DOI

EISSN

1467-9280

ISSN

0956-7976

Publication Date

January 1, 2011

Volume

22

Issue

2

Start / End Page

267 / 273

Related Subject Headings

  • Experimental Psychology
  • 52 Psychology
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology