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Abstract Although children exhibit curiosity regarding science, questions remain regarding how children evaluate others' curiosity and whether evaluations differ across domains that prioritize faith (e.g., religion) versus those that value questioning (e.g., science). In Study 1 (n = 115 5‐ to 8‐year‐olds; 49% female; 66% White), children evaluated actors who were curious, ignorant and non‐curious, or knowledgeable about religion or science; curiosity elicited relatively favorable moral evaluations (ds > .40). Study 2 (n = 62 7‐ to 8‐year‐olds; 48% female; 63% White) found that these evaluations generalized to behaviors, as children acted more pro‐socially and less punitively toward curious, versus not curious, individuals ( = .37). These findings (data collected 2020–2022) demonstrate children's positive moral evaluations of curiosity and contribute to debates regarding overlap between scientific and religious cognition.
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This content will become publicly available on March 1, 2026
Pointing out learning opportunities reduces overparenting
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.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2247807
- PAR ID:
- 10589589
- Publisher / Repository:
- Child Development
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Child Development
- Volume:
- 96
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0009-3920
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 679 to 690
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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