This study explored Chinese preschool children's perspective‐taking via a gift‐giving paradigm. Unlike findings with North American children (Atance et al. in, Dev Psychol 46:1505–1513, 2010), the results from two experiments (
Research from the perspective of parents, educators and mental health professionals has documented the negative impacts of pandemic isolation on children, but few studies have sought children's own perspectives on this difficult year. The current study aims to provide a first‐person perspective on children's psychological health by asking children directly about their experiences of isolating at home. We interviewed 28 seven‐ to eleven‐year‐olds in early days of lockdowns with follow‐ups 6 months later. Children answered questions about family, school, friendships and feelings about the changes in their lives during lockdown. Children's reflections showed resilience, adaptability, positive appraisals and an ability to maintain meaningful social connections. This data underscores the value of including children's narratives to better understand the pandemic's lasting effects on their lives.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10513132
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Children & Society
- Volume:
- 38
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 0951-0605
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 1147-1165
- Size(s):
- p. 1147-1165
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract N Exp. 1 = 329;N Exp. 2 = 112) showed that allowing Chinese children to first choose a desired object for themselves did not enhance their subsequent perspective‐taking performance in gift selection or gift justifications. This was true regardless of gift type (consumable or recreational items) or of recipient (mom, teacher, experimenter, or friend). In addition, children's perspective‐taking did not correlate with their performances in behavioral inhibition and delay of gratification tasks. These results suggest the possibility that the prior desire fulfillment effect varies with children's socio‐cultural experiences. Finally, Chinese children showed better perspective‐taking in choosing consumable gifts (e.g., drinks, snacks) than recreational gifts (e.g., toys, magazines), although this effect was not found for gift selection in Experiment 2. One interpretation of these results is that children's capacity for prosocial perspective‐taking is influenced by socio‐cultural experiences and social knowledge about individuals' preferences for different kinds of objects. -
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Abstract Wealth‐based disparities in health care wherein the poor receive undertreatment in painful conditions are a prominent issue that requires immediate attention. Research with adults suggests that these disparities are partly rooted in stereotypes associating poor individuals with pain insensitivity. However, whether and how children consider a sufferer's wealth status in their pain perceptions remains unknown. The present work addressed this question by testing 4‐ to 9‐year‐olds from the US and China. In Study 1 (
N = 108, 56 girls, 79% White), US participants saw rich and poor White children experiencing identical injuries and indicated who they thought felt more pain. Although 4‐ to 6‐year‐olds responded at chance, children aged seven and above attributed more pain to the poor than to the rich. Study 2 with a new sample of US children (N = 111, 56 girls, 69% White) extended this effect to judgments of White adults’ pain. Pain judgments also informed children's prosocial behaviors, leading them to provide medical resources to the poor. Studies 3 (N = 118, 59 girls, 100% Asian) and 4 (N = 80, 40 girls, 100% Asian) found that, when evaluating White and Asian people's suffering, Chinese children began to attribute more pain to the poor than to the rich earlier than US children. Thus, unlike US adults, US children and Chinese children recognize the poor's pain from early on. These findings add to our knowledge of group‐based beliefs about pain sensitivity and have broad implications on ways to promote equitable health care.Research Highlights Four studies examined whether 4‐ to 9‐year‐old children's pain perceptions were influenced by sufferers’ wealth status.
US children attributed more pain to White individuals of low wealth status than those of high wealth status by age seven.
Chinese children demonstrated an earlier tendency to attribute more pain to the poor (versus the rich) compared to US children.
Children's wealth‐based pain judgments underlied their tendency to provide healthcare resources to people of low wealth status.
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Abstract There is considerable agreement among scientists, educators, and policymakers about the need to broaden participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. Yet, equity requires much more than increasing STEM access for marginalized groups of children. In this invited commentary, we raise two critical points for the field to continue to grapple with as we investigate ways to engage young minds in STEM learning. It is critical that research with young children focuses on the process of doing science, while appreciating that the process of scientific thinking and learning are culturally constructed and situated. Specifically, as researchers and educators, we must do better at contextualizing children's scientific thinking process as it unfolds in their daily lives—with their peers, families, and in their cultural communities. Specific studies highlighted throughout this essay seek to document and promote family, community, and teaching practices that are effective for supporting young children's learning and explorations in STEM across our increasingly diverse society. We propose opportunities for future researchers to focus their efforts, including the following: more multidisciplinary work that includes synthesis across disciplines and methodological traditions; more diverse samples and investigative teams, such that cultural insiders are full participants; more descriptive studies focusing on the everyday experiences in children's lives that promote the development of scientific thinking and practices; and practice‐informed research.
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Abstract Although the emergence of gender segregation in early childhood is a well‐established pattern in formal settings (i.e., group childcare, preschool) from research predominantly in North America, little is known about the gender segregation among young children in Sub‐Saharan Africa, especially in the contexts of ethnically diverse informal urban settlements. Using naturalistic observations of 62 focal‐children (2 to 4 year olds) from 4 ethnic groups (Kamba, Kikuyu, Luo, and Maasai) in one informal urban settlement in Kenya, we examined the gender segregation in social interactions and proximity to other children in their daily lives. Focal‐children's ethnicity, age, and gender were considered as potential predictors of gender segregation (i.e., tendency to spend time in close proximity or social interaction with children of their same gender). Ethnicity was the best predictor of gender segregation, as Maasai children exhibited more evidence of gender segregation than children of other ethnicities. Age and gender did not predict the patterns of gender segregation in this sample. Findings are discussed with respect to cultural roles related to gender, ethnically diverse urban communities, social development in early childhood, and prevalent assumptions about the universality of gender segregation in early childhood.
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Abstract Objective This mixed‐methods study examined whether higher‐socioeconomic status (SES) children's digital technology use adhered to contemporaneous pediatric guidelines, how it compared to lower‐SES children, and why, as analyses showed, higher‐SES children's technology use far exceeded pediatric recommendations.
Background 2013 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines recommended limited “screen time” for children. Higher SES families tend to follow guidelines, but digital technology use—simultaneously a health behavior and a pathway for building human capital—has complex implications.
Method Quantitative analyses provide new nationally representative estimates of the relationship between social class and 9‐ to 13‐year‐old children's technology time (including television), device access, and parenting rules (2014 PSID Child Development Supplement,
N = 427). Qualitative analyses of 77 longitudinal higher‐SES parent interviews articulated explanatory processes.Results Higher‐SES children used technology as frequently as others and in excess of recommendations. Their device access, activities, and agency in adhering to rules, however, differed from others. Qualitative analysis uncovered processes that helped explain these findings: parents' ambivalence about technology and perception that expert guidance is absent or unrealistic, and children's exercise of agency to use technology facilitated by “concerted cultivation” parenting styles, led to higher‐SES individualistic parenting practices that supported children's increased non‐television technology use.
Conclusion Cultures and structures related to children's technology use are in flux, and classed norms and understandings are emerging to construct relevant class‐based distinctions around parenting.
