情绪效价和反应指向对幼儿助人行为的影响: 来自行为和fNIRS的证据

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2026.1143

摘要/Abstract

摘要： 本研究通过3个实验探究情绪效价和情绪反应指向对幼儿助人行为的影响及其神经机制。实验1 (N = 259, M = 5.48岁, SD = 0.76岁, 127名男孩)探究了情绪效价(积极、中性、消极)对4~6岁幼儿助人行为的影响, 结果发现, 相比其他情绪, 积极情绪更能促进4~6岁幼儿的助人行为。实验2 (N = 180, M = 5.39岁, SD = 0.79岁, 98名男孩)进一步考察了情绪效价(积极 vs. 消极)和情绪反应指向(指向自我 vs. 指向他人)的交互作用, 结果发现, “指向他人”的消极情绪比“指向自我”的消极情绪更能促进4~6岁幼儿助人行为; 实验3 (N = 34, M = 5.38岁, SD = 0.33岁, 17名男孩)采用功能性近红外光谱技术(fNIRS)探究了在“指向自我”条件下情绪效价对5岁幼儿助人行为影响的神经机制, 结果发现, 在“指向自我”的消极情绪下幼儿助人伴随着更高的背外侧前额叶皮层(DLPFC)激活水平; 而在“指向自我”积极情绪下幼儿助人伴随着更高的颞中回(MTG)激活水平。这些发现表明, 4~6岁幼儿助人行为不仅受情绪效价的影响, 而且还会受到情绪反应指向的调节; 在“指向自我”的消极情绪下5岁幼儿的助人行为可能主要通过认知控制路径实现, 而在“指向自我”的积极情绪下5岁幼儿的助人行为可能主要通过共情-利他路径实现。

关键词: 幼儿助人行为, 情绪效价, 情绪反应指向, 功能性近红外光谱, 背外侧前额叶皮层, 颞中回

Abstract: Helping behavior, a typical form of prosocial behavior, refers to voluntary actions in which individuals attend to and assist others in escaping from undesirable situations. Early childhood represents a critical period for the frequent occurrence of helping behaviors in young children. Although various factors influence children's helping behaviors, emotion may serve as a key factor. Individual emotional experiences encompass not only the emotional valence dimension (positive vs. negative) but also the emotional response orientation dimension (self oriented vs. other-oriented). However, little is known about how emotional valence and emotional response orientation jointly influence helping behaviors and the underlying neural mechanisms in young children. Therefore, this study systematically investigated these questions through three experiments.
In Experiment 1 (N = 259, M = 5.48 years, SD = 0.76 years, 127 boys), 4- to 6-year-old participants were randomly assigned to positive, neutral, or negative emotion conditions. We used the gift paradigm to induce corresponding emotions and then examined helping behaviors using a spilled-pencils task. Building on Experiment 1, Experiment 2 (N = 180, M = 5.39 years, SD = 0.79 years, 98 boys) randomly assigned 4- to 6-year-old participants to positive or negative emotion groups, with emotional induction under two emotional response orientation conditions (self-oriented vs. other-oriented). Participants then completed the spilled-pencils task. Building on Experiment 2, Experiment 3 (N = 34, M = 5.38 years, SD = 0.33 years, 17 boys) focused on the neural mechanisms underlying the effect of emotional valence on 5-year-old children's helping behaviors under self-oriented conditions. Five-year-old participants were randomly assigned to self-oriented positive or self-oriented negative emotion groups. After emotion induction using the gift paradigm, helping behaviors were examined in the hill paradigm involving puppet characters displayed on screen, while functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to record brain activation throughout the process.
Experiment 1 revealed that compared to negative and neutral emotions, positive emotions significantly promoted helping behaviors in young children aged 4 to 6 years. Experiment 2 found that other-oriented negative emotions elicited more helping behaviors than self-oriented negative emotions, whereas no significant difference was observed between self-oriented and other-oriented positive emotions. Experiment 3's fNIRS data revealed differentiated neural activation patterns underlying helping behaviors under self-oriented emotional conditions in 5-year-old children. Under self-oriented negative emotions, children's helping behaviors were accompanied by higher activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), whereas under self-oriented positive emotions, helping behaviors were accompanied by higher activation in the middle temporal gyrus (MTG).
These findings indicate that helping behaviors are influenced not only by emotional valence but also moderated by emotional response orientation. Under self-oriented negative emotions, 5-year-old children's helping behaviors may primarily rely on a cognitive control pathway, whereas under self-oriented positive emotions, helping behaviors may primarily rely on an empathy-altruism pathway. These findings have important implications for understanding the development of prosocial behavior in early childhood.

Key words: helping behaviors in young children, emotional valence, emotional response orientation, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), middle temporal gyrus (MTG)

张文洁, 龙如意, 李苗青, 范伟, 傅小兰. (2026). 情绪效价和反应指向对幼儿助人行为的影响: 来自行为和fNIRS的证据. 心理学报, 58(6), 1143-1159.

ZHANG Wenjie, LONG Ruyi, LI Miaoqing, FAN Wei, FU Xiaolan. (2026). The impact of emotional valence and response orientation on helping behavior in young children: Evidence from behavior and fNIRS. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 58(6), 1143-1159.

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