Do Chinese preschoolers follow adults’ suggestions? The impact of suggestion fairness and advisor familiarity on preschoolers’ sharing behavior
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Introduction While preschoolers’ sharing behavior is an important indicator of social development, it remains unclear how adult suggestions influence their sharing decisions. Methods This study investigated how suggestion fairness (fair/unfair) and advisor familiarity (familiar/unfamiliar) affect preschoolers’ sharing behavior and its relationship with emotional experiences. Two experiments were conducted with 187 preschoolers aged 3-6 years (Experiment 1: n = 124, M = 4.54 years, SD = 1.02; Experiment 2: n = 63, M = 5.50 years, SD = 0.28) using a dictator game paradigm. Results Results revealed that despite having a more mature understanding of fairness, 5-6-year-olds were more susceptible to adult suggestions compared to 3-4-year-olds. Older preschoolers were more likely to follow suggestions from familiar advisors while showing less compliance with unfamiliar advisors’ suggestions. Additionally, 5-6-year-olds demonstrated greater consistency between fairness judgments and actual sharing behavior, whereas 3-4-year-olds showed a larger cognition-behavior gap. Notably, children who shared more than they deemed fair (“over-sharing”) reported experiencing more positive emotions. Discussion This study found that both suggestion fairness and advisor familiarity significantly influence preschoolers’ sharing decisions, with age-specific patterns in suggestion compliance and emotional experiences.
Source: Frontiers in Psychology
Authors: Chang Chen, Zihan Zha, Ru He, Ying Zhou, Wenjie Zhang
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
OpenAlex ID: W4415147073