ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B
主办:中国心理学会
   中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

心理学报 ›› 2023, Vol. 55 ›› Issue (8): 1255-1269.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.01255

• 研究报告 • 上一篇    下一篇

10~12岁儿童社会价值取向对第三方利他行为的影响:情绪的作用

陈沛琪1, 张银玲1, 胡馨木1, 王静1,4, 买晓琴1,2,3()   

  1. 1中国人民大学心理学系, 北京 100872
    2中国人民大学心理学系实验室, 北京 100872
    3中国人民大学哲学与认知科学跨学科交叉平台, 北京 100872
    4南京师范大学附属中学新城小学南校区, 南京 210019
  • 收稿日期:2022-09-27 发布日期:2023-05-12 出版日期:2023-08-25
  • 通讯作者: 买晓琴, E-mail: maixq@ruc.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金面上项目(31970986);国家社科基金重大项目(19ZDA363)

The effect of social value orientation on third-party altruistic behaviors in children aged 10-12 years: The role of emotion

CHEN Peiqi1, ZHANG Yinling1, HU Xinmu1, WANG Jing1,4, MAI Xiaoqin1,2,3()   

  1. 1Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
    2Laboratory of Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
    3Interdisciplinary Platform of Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
    4The South Campus of Xin Cheng Primary School of the High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210019, China
  • Received:2022-09-27 Online:2023-05-12 Published:2023-08-25

摘要:

为探讨10~12岁儿童社会价值取向与第三方利他行为的关系, 实验1采用第三方惩罚范式, 招募233名儿童被试, 实验2采用第三方补偿范式, 招募238名儿童被试, 考察三种分配(高度不公平、中度不公平和公平)情境下社会价值取向、情绪对第三方利他行为的影响, 并对比两个实验的结果。结果显示: (1)在第三方惩罚任务中亲社会儿童(相比亲自我)在高度不公平情境下拿出更多金币用于惩罚分配者; (2)在第三方补偿任务中亲社会儿童(相比亲自我)在两种不公平情境下都拿出更多金币用于补偿接受者; (3)情绪只在高度不公平情境下在社会价值取向与第三方利他行为之间发挥中介作用; (4)采用第三方补偿(相比第三方惩罚)的儿童面对不同分配时情绪波动更小, 在中度不公平情境下有更多利他行为。这些结果从发展的角度为社会价值取向对第三方利他行为的影响机制提供证据, 强调了亲社会取向对维护社会公平的重要作用。

关键词: 社会价值取向, 第三方惩罚, 第三方补偿, 不公平厌恶, 情绪, 小学生

Abstract:

Fairness plays a critical role in maintaining the social order. To understand fairness development, numerous studies have examined children's upholding fairness behaviors, such as resource allocation. In particular, the emergence of third-party altruism in Chinese children at the age of 8−10 is an important turning point in fairness development. Third-party altruism refers to the behavior of individuals voluntarily paying costs to punish violators, which is a form of prosocial behavior. Most previous studies have confirmed that social value orientation (SVO) affects prosocial behaviors, and some cognitive neuroscience studies have found that SVO and emotion together affect prosocial behaviors. However, we do not know the specific mechanisms by which children's SVO and emotions affect their third-party altruistic behaviors. Additionally, because third-party altruism can adopt punishment and compensation, the mechanisms may be different. Therefore, through two experiments, this study aimed to investigate the mechanisms of children's SVO and emotion on third-party altruism and the difference between children's third-party punishment and compensation behaviors in three offer conditions (i.e., high inequality, moderate inequality, and equality). Experiment 1 was based on the third-party punishment task and aimed to investigate the effect of children’s SVO on their emotion and punitive behaviors and to verify the mediating role of emotion. We recruited 233 children aged 10−12 years. After completing the demographic information, they were instructed to complete three third-party punishment tasks revised from the dictator game. The proposer in the dictator game offered one, three, and five coins from 10 coins to the recipient successively. As the third party, children reported the level of pleasure and decided whether to spend any integer of their endowed five coins to punish the proposer in each task. For every coin spent, two coins were deducted from the proposer’s endowment. The results revealed that prosocial children (vs. the pro-self) were more unpleased and spent more coins to punish the proposer, and emotion played a mediating role in the relationship between SVO and third-party punitive behaviors in the high inequality condition but not in the moderate inequality or equality conditions. To deeply understand children’s third-party altruistic behaviors and compare the two kinds of behaviors, we conducted Experiment 2 based on the third-party compensation task. We recruited 238 children aged 10−12 years. The experimental procedure was similar to that of Experiment 1, except that children in Experiment 2 spent coins to compensate the recipient rather than punish the proposer. The results revealed that prosocial children (vs. the pro-self) spent more coins to compensate the recipient in the high and moderate inequality conditions; emotion played a mediating role in the relationship between SVO and third-party compensation behaviors only in the high inequality condition. As for the difference between the two kinds of third-party altruistic behaviors, children in the third-party compensation (vs. punishment) task had less emotional fluctuation when confronted with three offers and spent more coins to maintain a fair order in the moderate unequal condition. These findings suggest that SVO had a stable effect on third-party punishment and compensation in 10- to 12-year-old children under all three offer conditions, and that emotion mediated the relationship between SVO and each kind of third-party altruistic behavior when children were confronted with an extremely unfair offer. Additionally, the children showed different levels of pleasure and behavior in the two third-party altruistic tasks. Our study contributes to revealing the mechanisms of SVO and emotion on two kinds of third-party altruistic behaviors and suggests that prosocial orientation is a critical factor in fostering children’s third-party altruism.

Key words: social value orientation, third-party punishment, third-party compensation, inequality aversion, emotion valence, children

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