Department of Human Development, Cornell University.
Cogn Sci. 2013 Sep-Oct;37(7):1343-55. doi: 10.1111/cogs.12046. Epub 2013 May 20.
Recent work has shown that preschool-aged children and adults understand freedom of choice regardless of culture, but that adults across cultures differ in perceiving social obligations as constraints on action. To investigate the development of these cultural differences and universalities, we interviewed school-aged children (4-11) in Nepal and the United States regarding beliefs about people's freedom of choice and constraint to follow preferences, perform impossible acts, and break social obligations. Children across cultures and ages universally endorsed the choice to follow preferences but not to perform impossible acts. Age and culture effects also emerged: Young children in both cultures viewed social obligations as constraints on action, but American children did so less as they aged. These findings suggest that while basic notions of free choice are universal, recognitions of social obligations as constraints on action may be culturally learned.
最近的研究表明，学龄前儿童和成年人无论文化背景如何，都能理解自由选择，但不同文化背景的成年人对社会义务的看法存在差异，认为社会义务是对行动的限制。为了研究这些文化差异和普遍性的发展，我们采访了尼泊尔和美国的学龄儿童（4-11 岁），了解他们对人们自由选择和遵守偏好、执行不可能的行为以及打破社会义务的信念。不同文化和年龄的儿童普遍支持遵循偏好的选择，但不支持执行不可能的行为。年龄和文化的影响也显现出来：两个文化中的幼儿都认为社会义务是行动的限制，但美国的幼儿随着年龄的增长，这种看法越来越少。这些发现表明，虽然自由选择的基本概念是普遍的，但将社会义务视为对行动的限制可能是文化习得的。
