Generosity in children

Original photo courtesy of Tup Wanders

According to Yale University research published in 2012, children are more likely to be generous when others can see them or when they can see the recipient of their generosity.

It has previously been shown that adults are more charitable when they are being watched or when their actions will become public, and this study demonstrates that children as young as five also modify their behaviour in the same circumstances.

In the study the researchers gave their five year old subjects stickers and the option of sharing one or four stickers with another five year old child. They found that the children were more generous when they could see the person they were giving the stickers to, and also when the stickers were handed over in a transparent container, rather than an opaque one. These behaviours were independent of how many stickers the children got to keep for themselves.

The researchers concluded that children as young as five can make strategic decisions about whether to be generous, based on whether the recipient will be aware of their generosity. The children demonstrated much more sophisticated processes for determining behaviour than had been expected. This led the researchers to conclude that adults and children alike will behave more generously when the results of their actions are visible or publicised to others. The donation tendencies of both are driven by the amount of information available to others about their actions.

I find the results of this research to be quite sobering (almost depressing) in terms of what they demonstrate about human nature. There must be exceptions to this rule - think of those wonderful souls who dedicate their lives to helping others with little or no reward or recognition, and those who leave large anonymous donations to charity in their wills. However, it would appear that the norm for the rest of us is to only be generous when 'someone is watching'. 

What does this mean for us as parents? Most of us try to ensure our children are good sharers. Do we need to go further and reinforce that sharing should be done happily, without any need for reward or reinforcement?

Food for thought, from the team at nestling.

Public Library of Science (2012, October 31). Five year olds are generous only when they're watched. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 12, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2012/10/121031214138.htm