“…Beyond social learning, there are several social–cognitive reasons to suspect age-related differences in punitive motives. First, young children are more inclined to judge negative actions (e.g., refusing to share one’s toy blocks) as driven by instrumental motives (e.g., “Jack needs blocks to build a larger castle”) than social or psychological motives (e.g., “Jack does not want to be friend with Bobby,” “Jack wants Bobby to feel sad”; Pillow & Lovett, 2020). This finding suggests that children, relative to adults, may be more inclined to attribute instrumental motives to punishment (e.g., change the punisher’s future behavior) than social or psychological ones (e.g., restoring the social relationship, hurting the punisher’s feelings).…”