More Like this

1. Age‐related changes in information‐seeking behavior about morally relevant events

   https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14200  

   Yonas, Daniel; Solomon, Larisa Heiphetz (November 2024, Child Development)

   Abstract With age, people increasingly emphasize intent when judging transgressions. However, people often lack information about intent in everyday settings; further, they may wonder about reasons underlying pro‐social acts. Three studies investigated 4‐to‐6‐year‐olds', 7‐to‐9‐year‐olds', and adults' (data collected 2020–2022 in the northeastern United States, totaln = 669, ~50% female, predominantly White) desire for information about why behaviors occurred. In Study 1, older children and adults exhibited more curiosity about transgressions versus pro‐social behaviors (ds = 0.52–0.63). Younger children showed weaker preferences to learn about transgressions versus pro‐social behaviors than did older participants (d = 0.12). Older children's emphasis on intent, but not expectation violations, drove age‐related differences (Studies 2–3). Older children may target intent‐related judgments specifically toward transgressions, and doing so may underlie curiosity about wrongdoing. 

   more » « less
2. Google is Free: Moral Evaluations of Intergroup Curiosity

   https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672231180149  

   Mosley, Ariel J; Solomon, Larisa Heiphetz (January 2025, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin)

   Two experiments investigated how evaluations of intergroup curiosity differed depending on whether people placed responsibility for their learning on themselves or on outgroup members. In Study 1, participants ( n = 340; 51% White-American, 49% Black-American) evaluated White actors who were curious about Black culture and placed responsibility on outgroup members to teach versus on themselves to learn. Both Black and White participants rated the latter actors as more moral, and perceptions of effort mediated this effect. A follow-up preregistered study ( n = 513; 75% White-American) asked whether perceptions of greater effort cause greater perceptions of moral goodness. Replicating Study 1, participants rated actors as more moral when they placed responsibility on themselves versus others. Participants also rated actors as more moral when they exerted high versus low effort. These results clarify when and why participants view curiosity as morally good and help to strengthen bridges between work on curiosity, moral cognition, and intergroup relations. 

   more » « less
3. Science resource inequalities viewed as less wrong when girls are disadvantaged

   https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12629  

   Sims, Riley N.; Burkholder, Amanda R.; Killen, Melanie (July 2022, Social Development)

   In response to some resource inequalities, children give priority to moral concerns. Yet in others, children show ingroup preferences in their evaluations and resource allocations. The present study built upon this knowledge by investigating children’s and young adults’ (N = 144; 5-6-year-olds, Mage = 5.83, SDage = .97; 9-11-year-olds, Mage = 10.74, SDage = .68; and young adults, Mage = 19.92, SDage = 1.10) evaluations and allocation decisions in a science inequality context. Participants viewed vignettes in which male and female groups received unequal amounts of science supplies, then evaluated the acceptability of the resource inequalities, allocated new boxes of science supplies between the groups, and provided justifications for their choices. Results revealed both children and young adults evaluated inequalities of science resources less negatively when girls were disadvantaged than when boys were disadvantaged. Further, five- to six-year-old participants and male participants rectified science resource inequalities to a greater extent when the inequality disadvantaged boys compared to when it disadvantaged girls. Generally, participants who used moral reasoning to justify their responses negatively evaluated and rectified the resource inequalities, whereas participants who used group-focused reasoning positively evaluated and perpetuated the inequalities, though some age and participant gender findings emerged. Together, these findings reveal subtle gender biases that may contribute to perpetuating gender-based science inequalities both in childhood and adulthood. 

   more » « less
4. Pointing out learning opportunities reduces overparenting

   https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14198  

   Shachnai, Reut; Asaba, Mika; Hu, Lingyan; Leonard, Julia A (March 2025, Child Development)

   Abstract Overparenting—taking over and completing developmentally appropriate tasks for children—is pervasive and hurts children's motivation. Can overparenting in early childhood be reduced by simply framing tasks as learning opportunities? In Study 1 (N = 77; 62% female; 74% White; collected 4/2022), US parents of 4‐to‐5‐year‐olds reported taking over less on tasks they perceived as greater learning opportunities, which was most often the case on academic tasks. Studies 2 and 3 (N = 140; 67% female; 52% White; collected 7/2022–9/2023) showed that framing the everyday, non‐academic task of getting dressed as a learning opportunity—whether big or small—reduced parents' taking over by nearly half (r = −.39). These findings suggest that highlighting learning opportunities helps parents give children more autonomy. 

   more » « less
5. Children’s and Adults’ Perceptions of Religious and Secular Interventions for Incarcerated Individuals in the United States

   https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070821  

   Cohen, Aaron; Dunlea, James P.; Solomon, Larisa Heiphetz (July 2023, Religions)

   Religious involvement is prevalent in prisons, a context where questions of moral redemption are particularly salient. We probed the developmental origins of adults’ perceptions that religion might lead to redemption following transgressions. Six- to eight-year-olds (n = 50 United States residents) and adults (n = 53 United States residents) learned about incarcerated characters who had taken religion classes, art classes, or life classes (about right and wrong) while imprisoned. They then rated their agreement with statements assessing attitudes toward the incarcerated individuals, the effectiveness of each character’s time in prison, and their likelihood of recidivism. Children were more likely than adults to report that classes, in general, would effectively rehabilitate incarcerated individuals. However, participants of all ages reported more positive attitudes toward people who took religion classes and life classes rather than art classes. Further, participants of all ages reported that people who took art classes, versus religion or life classes, would be more likely to continue transgressing. These findings highlight the important role that religious and secular learning plays in perceptions of redemption across development. 

   more » « less