Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80802 Munich, Germany.
Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80802 Munich, Germany.
J Exp Child Psychol. 2020 Jun;194:104826. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104826. Epub 2020 Mar 13.
Contemporary moral philosophy stresses the idea of reasonable partiality. This concept proposes that close relationships carry a normative obligation to be partial toward another person. This study explored in two experiments whether 4- to 6-year-old children (N = 185) enforce partiality toward friends from third parties (Experiment 1) and how they prioritize a norm of equality and interpersonal obligations toward friends (Experiment 2). Children were presented with protagonists who could distribute resources between a friend and a disliked peer. One protagonist complied with a norm of partiality by allocating more resources to his friend, whereas the other protagonist either behaved in the opposite way (Experiment 1) or distributed resources equally (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, children enforced partiality by protesting against the protagonist who gave more to the disliked peer and by selectively affirming the protagonist who gave more to the friend. Yet, in Experiment 2, children showed stronger enforcement of a norm of equal sharing than partiality toward the friend. The study demonstrates how young children deal with normative demands in the context of friendship. At the same time, it suggests that fairness norms are given priority. Overall, our study demonstrates how young children handle normative demands and interpersonal responsibilities.
当代道德哲学强调合理偏向的理念。这个概念提出，亲密关系对另一个人有一种规范的偏向义务。本研究通过两个实验探索了 4 到 6 岁的儿童（N=185）是否会对第三方的朋友表现出偏向（实验 1），以及他们如何优先考虑平等规范和对朋友的人际义务（实验 2）。研究向儿童呈现了可以在朋友和不喜欢的同伴之间分配资源的主角。一个主角通过将更多的资源分配给他的朋友来遵守偏向的规范，而另一个主角则以相反的方式行事（实验 1）或平均分配资源（实验 2）。在实验 1 中，儿童通过反对将更多资源给予不喜欢的同伴的主角，并选择性地肯定给予朋友更多资源的主角来执行偏向。然而，在实验 2 中，儿童对平等分享规范的执行力度强于对朋友的偏向。该研究展示了年幼的孩子如何在友谊的背景下处理规范要求。同时，它表明公平规范被优先考虑。总的来说，我们的研究展示了年幼的孩子如何处理规范要求和人际关系责任。
