Children's Biases on Sharing

Previous research looking at young children’s sharing behaviors has found that they are surprisingly sophisticated in their decisions on who to share with: they share more with those who need more, prefer to share with friends over enemies, and also share in order to gain a higher social status.  However, which of these three factors is most important in children’s decision of who to share with: fairness, favoritism, or self-servitude? A recent study by Markus Paulus, Professor of Developmental Psychology and the Psychology of Learning in Early Childhood at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet ("Friendship Wins out over Fairness.") published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology suggests that friendship takes priority over the needs of a stranger or that of an adversary.

In order to determine the predominant motivator, Paulus performed a myriad of experiments using stickers as a form of value. Children between the ages of 3-6 years old were asked to give stickers to either a friend who already had 100 stickers or to a child they did not like to play with who only had three. Most of the children shared stickers with their friend, even though the other child had less. This showed that friendship carried more weight than need in the eyes of a child.

In another experiment, children were asked to allot stickers between a friend who had plenty, and a stranger who only had a few. Once again, the children gave more to the friend than the stranger. However, in a final study, children favored sharing with a stranger over a child they did not like, showing that familiarity was not a necessary condition for sharing and that even a stranger is a better option than someone they do not get along with socially.

Most adults would normally want to help someone who was in need, whether they were their friend or not. Paulus’ experiments have brought great insight into the development of sharing during the age of kindergarten: children favor their friends over fairness. Given that forming friendships is a major milestone of this developmental period, this research highlights that social impulses are more important than fairness during the early childhood stages. For parents trying to teach fairness, they may be frustrated by their child’s seemingly “mean” behavior, but this research shows that favoring social relationships is a normal focus of this developmental stage.