Stage 1 Manuscript: Does Reading a Compassionate Story Improve Children’s Helping in the Compassionate Responding Paradigm?

Recent findings using the compassionate responding paradigm suggest that preschool children will not help a distressed target (puppets or adults) when it is costly to do so. This study will examine whether reading a storybook that promotes compassionate behavior translates to greater costly compassionate helping using the same experimental paradigm. The first part of our study will involve parents reading either a book promoting compassionate action or a control book with their children across a 1-week period. The storybook will be sent to parents, along with reading guidelines and a short reading diary (which parents will fill in every day). Children will then be invited to take part in the compassionate responding paradigm. We expect a higher level of compassionate helping for children who have read the compassionate storybook compared to children who participated in the control condition. Regardless of the findings, this study will afford important insights into whether preschool children are responsive to stories that promote compassionate action.