Sharing in Private and Public Situations: does this really Matter for Children?

Abstract

The goal of the present study was to examine the influence of social context in young children's sharing behavior. Sixty-three children, aged between 3 and 8 years, participated in a dictator game in which they were requested to distribute stickers between themselves and an anonymous child. Results showed that the quantities the participants expected to receive were greater than those which were distributed to the others, t(63) = -6, 28, p < .01. Moreover, older participants shared more stickers when they were being observed than when they allocated stickers alone (p = .001, ηp 2 = .30). It is believed that increasing age leads to a greater respect for the societal rule of equity. These results are discussed in light of previous studies on sharing behavior during childhood.

Child Distributive Behavior and Inhibitory Control in a Private Context

“…However, the results of the study by Smith et al (2013) indicated no relationship between inhibitory control and sharing behavior between 3 and 8 years of age. This may have been due to a strong social desirability bias, as shown in previous studies, in which it was found that children of this age group tend to behave more fairly and equitably when being observed than when alone (Blake & Rand, 2010;Piazza et al, 2011;Sampaio & Pires, 2015).…”

“…Finally, a regression analysis was performed to assess the predictive value of age and hits in Stroop on the number of stickers donated (Table 2), considering the results of previous studies regarding the following aspects: (a) increased sharing in agerelated economic games situations (Blake & McAuliffe, 2011;McAuliffe et al, 2014;Sampaio & Pires, 2015;Smith et al, 2013); (b) the role that inhibitory control plays in delaying gratifications (Kidd et al, 2013), thus contributing to increased altruistic behaviors (Aguilar-Pardo et al, 2013).…”

“…In addition, manipulations in distribution contexts (e.g. experimenter presence, advantageous inequality, type of recipient, resource value, among others) are related to how children make decisions about sharing goods (Blake & Rand, 2010;Moore, 2009;Sampaio & Pires, 2015).…”

“…More specifically, since in the study by Smith et al (2013) children always performed the sharing of goods in the presence of the researcher (public context), it is possible that they were motivated to share more stickers, seeking to conform to a social demand to demonstrate egalitarian behavior, which would hide possible effects of inhibitory control over the desire to have more goods for themselves. According to the study by Sampaio and Pires (2015), the possibility of children to share goods alone and totally anonymously (the recipient would not know their identity) made them show a very strong tendency to keep a large number of stickers for themselves, when compared to those who performed the same task in a public context (the division of the stickers should be done in the presence of the researcher). This effect of the researcher's presence was especially important for older children (aged 6 to 8 years), who showed more willingness to equality than the other groups.…”

“…Sharing behavior was assessed through a dictatorial game that involved the distribution of sticker cards among the participant and a second child, which was actually fictitious, following the procedures employed in the study by Sampaio and Pires (2015). Disney ® characters sticker cards and two colored envelopes were used to separate the stickers the participant kept (green) from those given to another child (orange).…”