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February 11, 2026Child DevelopmentOpen Access

Negative descriptive norms can influence young children's generosity even when positive descriptive norms do not

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Authors

LZLi ZhaoYHYiming HeGHGail D Heyman

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Overview

Preregistered studies show how negative norms affect generosity in young children, suggesting implications for social behavior development.

Key Points

  • The research aims to understand how different types of descriptive norms affect children's generosity.
  • Conducted three preregistered studies
  • Involved 328 five-year-old children
  • Children chose to give an extra sticker to another child
  • Negative descriptive norms are more effective than positive norms in promoting generosity
  • Highlighting atypical behavior enhances prosocial actions in children
  • Findings suggest that norm framing significantly influences early social decision-making

Cite This Study

Zhao et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/698c1c65267fb587c655ec62https://doi.org/10.1093/chidev/aacaf047
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