Lombardi Elisabetta, Valle Annalisa, Rinaldi Teresa, Massaro Davide, Marchetti Antonella
Theory of Mind Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy.
Eur J Psychol. 2021 Nov 30;17(4):306-318. doi: 10.5964/ejop.2453. eCollection 2021 Nov.
Individual economic competence is important but increasingly challenging to manage due to the growing complexity of the nature of economic decisions people must make and the substantial impacts of some of these decisions on their lives. Decision-making ability develops from childhood and is closely related to specific economic components and prosocial behaviour such as fairness, altruism, and delay of gratification. However, while there are financial-education programs for children and young people focusing on financial products, few studies have examined training for the psychological abilities underlying economic decision-making. To promote those psychological skills that contribute to a more socially effective decision-making, we designed and tested a conversational-based training program for primary school children using reflective thinking. A total of 110 (male = 47, female = 63) children aged 8 to 10 years (Mean age = 9.71 years) from two schools in Northern Italy participated in the study with 55 children in a training group and 55 in a control group. All participated in pre-tests measuring their socio-economic background and economics-related skills and abilities. The training group were told stories relaying values of fairness, altruism, and delayed gratification. Both groups participated in task-based post-tests relating to fairness, altruism, and delayed gratification. Results revealed that children in the training group showed significant improvement at the post-test in altruistic and investment behaviour, showing the training efficacy, suggesting that similar programs could be implemented in primary schools as foundational teaching of economics and fiscal responsibility.
个人经济能力很重要，但由于人们必须做出的经济决策的性质日益复杂，以及其中一些决策对他们生活的重大影响，管理起来越来越具有挑战性。决策能力从童年开始发展，与特定的经济要素以及亲社会行为密切相关，如公平、利他主义和延迟满足。然而，虽然有针对儿童和年轻人的侧重于金融产品的金融教育项目，但很少有研究考察对经济决策背后心理能力的训练。为了提升那些有助于做出更具社会成效决策的心理技能，我们设计并测试了一个针对小学生的基于反思性思维的对话式训练项目。来自意大利北部两所学校的110名8至10岁（平均年龄 = 9.71岁）儿童（男性 = 47名，女性 = 63名）参与了该研究，其中55名儿童在训练组，55名在对照组。所有人都参加了测量他们社会经济背景以及与经济相关技能和能力的预测试。训练组的儿童听了传达公平、利他主义和延迟满足价值观的故事。两组都参加了与公平、利他主义和延迟满足相关的基于任务的后测试。结果显示，训练组的儿童在后测试中利他行为和投资行为有显著改善，表明了训练的有效性，这表明类似的项目可以在小学作为经济学和财政责任的基础教学来实施。
