ERIC Number: EJ1254110
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-3920
EISSN: N/A
When Helping Hurts: Children Think Groups That Receive Help Are Less Smart
Sierksma, Jellie; Shutts, Kristin
Child Development, v91 n3 p715-723 May-Jun 2020
Helping has many positive consequences for both helpers and recipients. However, in the present research, we considered a possible downside to receiving help: that it signals a deficiency. We investigated whether young children make inferences about intelligence from observing some groups of people receive help and other groups not. In a novel group paradigm, we show that children (4-6 years) think groups that receive help are less smart (n = 44) but not less nice (n = 45). Children also generalized their inferences about relative intelligence to new group members (n = 55; forced-choice-method). These results have implications for understanding how children develop stereotypes about intelligence as well as for educational practices that group children according to their ability.
Descriptors: Childrens Attitudes, Helping Relationship, Intelligence, Young Children, Inferences, Observation, Groups
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: U54HD090256