title: Young children selectively avoid helping people with harmful intentions.
abstract: Two studies investigated whether young children are selectively prosocial toward others, based on the others' moral behaviors. In Study 1 (N = 54), 3-year-olds watched 1 adult (the actor) harming or helping another adult. Children subsequently helped the harmful actor less often than a third (previously neutral) adult, but helped the helpful and neutral adults equally often. In Study 2 (N = 36), 3-year-olds helped an actor who intended but failed to harm another adult less often than a neutral adult, but helped an accidentally harmful and a neutral adult equally often. Children's prosocial behavior was thus mediated by the intentions behind the actor's moral behavior, irrespective of outcome. Children thus selectively avoid helping those who cause--or even intend to cause--others harm.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany. vaish@eva.mpg.de
authors.forename: Amrisha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vaish
authors.forename: Malinda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomasello
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005260:Female; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D035863:Moral Development; D009014:Morals; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012919:Social Behavior