Development of Pro-social Behavior: Equity Preference

Evolutionary Account Pro-social behaviors allowed humans to cohabitate in large groups Higher social cognition also important for large group cohabitation Co-evolution of pro-social behaviors and social cognition

Pro-social Behavior Helping –Instrumental –Informative –Comforting Sharing –Equitable vs. self-maximizing

Game Theory Prediction of individual behavior in group settings Recently applied to developmental psychology Dictator game, ultimatum game, public goods game and prisoner’s dilemma

Sharing Sharing valued resources What factors influence sharing behavior Altruism, fairness and social learning: a cross-cultural approach to imitative altruism (Blake, Callaghan, Corbit, Warneken, 2012)

Equity Preference for equity Where does this preference come from? Innate Socialized

Blake and McAuliffe (2011) Do children still prefer equity when it comes at a cost?

Procedure

Results 4-7 year olds accept advantageous offers but reject disadvantageous ones 8 year olds reject both forms of inequity Equal distributions are almost universally accepted

Cross-Cultural Value Strong equity preference emerges around 8 year in N.A. sample This supports a socialization account Important to look at cultures with different socialization practices

India and Peru Individual vs. collectivist cultures Prediction for the effect of collectivism on equity preference