The “Batman Effect”: Improving Perseverance in Young Children
Abstract
This study investigated the benefits of self-distancing (i.e., taking an outsider's view of one's own situation) on young children's perseverance. Four- and 6-year-old children (N = 180) were asked to complete a repetitive task for 10 min while having the option to take breaks by playing an extremely attractive video game. Six-year-olds persevered longer than 4-year-olds. Nonetheless, across both ages, children who impersonated an exemplar other-in this case a character, such as Batman-spent the most time working, followed by children who took a third-person perspective on the self, or finally, a first-person perspective. Alternative explanations, implications, and future research directions are discussed.
Cite this
Rachel E. White, Emily O. Prager, Ethan F. Kross, Angela Lee Duckworth, Stephanie M. Carlson (2016). The “Batman Effect”: Improving Perseverance in Young Children. Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12695
@article{e2016the,
title = {The “Batman Effect”: Improving Perseverance in Young Children},
author = {White, Rachel E. and Prager, Emily O. and Kross, Ethan F. and Duckworth, Angela Lee and Carlson, Stephanie M.},
year = {2016},
journal = {Child Development},
doi = {10.1111/cdev.12695}
}Citations in this library
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