Sharing is an important lesson all mothers try to instill in their little ones and while you may think your child is the best sharer in his class, it turns out he is only generous when you’re watching.
New research has revealed that children as young as five only share when someone is watching them, preferring to indulge in their greediness once our backs are turned.
The study, which was conducted in Yale University, revealed that children want to enhance their reputation in the eyes of both parents and other children.
Researchers presented five-year-olds with four stickers, which they were allowed to share with another child their age.
Children who were in the company of others were more likely to share
The research revealed that the children who were not being observed were selfish with their stickers, while those who were acted generously, often donating all of the stickers in the box.
Dr Kristin Leimgruber, who lead the study said: “Although the frequency with which children acted antisocially is striking, the conditions under which they chose to act generously are even more interesting and suggest that children likely use much more sophisticated pro-social strategies than we previously assumed.
“Much like the patterns of charity we see in adults, donation tendencies in children appear to be driven by the amount of information available to others about their actions – for both adults and children, the more others know about their actions, the more likely they are to act generously,” she finished.
