ERIC Number: EJ1122703
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Dec
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Development of Scope Insensitivity in Sharing Behavior
Kogut, Tehila; Slovic, Paul
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v42 n12 p1972-1981 Dec 2016
The singularity effect of identifiable victims is described as the greater willingness to help a single, identified victim than to help a group of victims with the same need (whether victims are identified or not), which occurs even when the single victim is one of the group's members. The current research examines the development of this phenomenon in early childhood examining children's actual sharing behavior from the ages of 3.8 to 8.2. Our results show that although younger children are overall less willing to share with others, they give more of their endowment to a group of recipients than to a single recipient. However, this tendency reverses for older children and children with higher level of Theory of Mind, who exhibit the singularity effect by giving more of their endowment to a single, identified target. We discuss possible mechanisms behind this developmental pattern.
Descriptors: Sharing Behavior, Young Children, Child Development, Age Differences, Theory of Mind, Helping Relationship, Foreign Countries, Multiple Regression Analysis, Statistical Analysis
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Israel
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

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