Why Does Children's Generosity Increase with Age: Susceptibility to Experimenter Influence or Altruism?

Abstract

This study evaluated whether age differences in children's generosity are due to increasing altruistic motivation or increasing susceptibility to experimenter influence strategies. 282 first, third, and fifth graders voted on how to spend a gift of money under 1 of 5 instructional sets--3 levels of experimenter influence, peer influence, or no influence, or no influence. Voting choices (in increasing order of generosity according to experimenter-defined scoring weights) were splitting up the money equally among class members, buying something for their class, buying something for their school, or giving the money to poor children. Voting choices also were scored according to empirically derived weights based on rankings provided by an independent sample of 50 first, third, and fifth graders. Both scoring systems indicated that fifth graders were more generous than younger children, but only under high levels of experimenter demand, and peer influence did not increase children's generosity. Furthermore, first graders appeared more generous when the child-derived rather than the experimenter-derived scoring system was used. Thus generalizations regarding age differences in generosity observed in laboratory experiments may require qualification, specifying the degree and type of experimenter influence involved.

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