I recently stumbled upon a reinvention of one of my favorite childhood candies, the fruit chew. Eating one, I am eight years old again. I remember keeping all the cherry and strawberry squares for myself and sharing the less-desirable lemon and orange squares with my sisters—if I shared at all.
Could my parents have done anything to encourage me to be more generous? New research says yes.
When are children more likely to share?They found, first of all, that environment matters—in other words, children’s behavior is shaped by what other people are saying or doing. If kids in the study heard suggestions to be generous, they’d give more of their fruit chews to other kids. If they heard suggestions to be selfish, they tended to keep more fruit chews for themselves. Kids are more likely to share in certain conditions, suggests a recent study—using fruit chews!—of four-to nine-year-olds by Katherine McAuliffe and colleagues.
If kids in the study heard suggestions to be generous, they’d give more of their fruit chews to other kids. If they heard suggestions to be selfish, they tended to keep more fruit chews for themselves.
As you might expect, kids who didn’t…
