title: Give as I give: Adult influence on children's giving in two cultures.
abstract: Adult influence on children's altruistic behavior may differ between cultural communities. We used an experimental approach to assess the influence of adult models on children's altruistic giving in a city in the United States and rural villages in India. Children between 3 and 8 years of age were tested with their parents in the United States (n=163) and India (n=154). Parents modeled either a generous or stingy donation; children then performed a similar task in private. Children in both communities were influenced by the stingy model, but only children in India increased their giving after viewing a generous model. The model's influence also increased with age in India. Results of a questionnaire revealed that parents in both communities believed that children learned sharing behavior from them. We consider these results in light of differences between these societies, including different socialization goals, cultural values, and content biases that may affect altruistic giving.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Electronic address: pblake@bu.edu.
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Blake
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Corbit
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia B0H 1X0, Canada.
authors.forename: Tara C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Callaghan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Warneken
mesh_terms: D000533:Altruism; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D037921:Gift Giving; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012423:Rural Health; D012951:Socialization; D014481:United States
keywords: Altruism; Cross-cultural; Cultural evolution; Dictator Game; Imitation; Social learning