title: Life-history theory explains childhood moral development.
abstract: Infants understand harm and fairness in third-party situations and yet children require years of development before they apply this understanding to their own interactions with others. We suggest that the delay is explained by a life-history analysis of when behaving morally becomes beneficial. The human species is characterized by an extended period of juvenile dependence during which cooperation with non-kin is mostly superfluous. Later, as children age, moral behaviors supporting cooperation become increasingly beneficial.
authors.affiliation: École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France. Electronic address: msheskin@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sheskin
authors.affiliation: École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Coralie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chevallier
authors.affiliation: École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.affiliation: École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Baumard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008960:Models, Psychological; D035863:Moral Development
keywords: cultural differences; development; fairness; morality; prosocial