Self‐control is negatively linked to prosociality in young children

Gladys Barragan-Jason () and Astrid Hopfensitz

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Abstract: "Human prosociality is a valuable but also deeply puzzling trait. While several studies suggest that prosociality is an impulsive behavior, others argue that self-control is necessary to develop prosocial behaviors. Yet, prosociality and self-control in children have rarely been studied jointly. Here, we measured self-control (i.e., delay-of-gratification) and prosociality (i.e., giving in a dictator game) in 250 4- to 6-year-old French schoolchildren. Contrary to previous studies, we found a negative relationship between waiting in the delay-of-gratification task and giving in the dictator game. The effect was especially pronounced when the partner in the dictator game was unknown compared with giving in a dictator game where the partner was a friend. Our results suggest that self-control is not always necessary to act prosocially. Future studies investigating whether and how such pattern develops across the lifespan and across cultures are warranted."

Keywords: self control; sharing; children; dictator game (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-10-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-evo, nep-exp, nep-neu and nep-soc
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04325644v1
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Published in Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 2023, 36 (4), 8 p

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04325644

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