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Li L, Britvan B, Tomasello M. Young children conform more to norms than to preferences. PLoS One. 2021;16(5):e0251228doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251228.
Li, L., Britvan, B., & Tomasello, M. (2021). Young children conform more to norms than to preferences. PloS one, 16(5), e0251228. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251228
Li, Leon, et al. "Young children conform more to norms than to preferences." PloS one vol. 16,5 (2021): e0251228. doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251228
Li L, Britvan B, Tomasello M. Young children conform more to norms than to preferences. PLoS One. 2021 May 26;16(5):e0251228. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251228. eCollection 2021. PMID: 34038420; PMCID: PMC8153413.
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PLoS One. 2021 May 26;16(5):e0251228. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251228. eCollection 2021.

Young children conform more to norms than to preferences.

PloS one

Leon Li, Bari Britvan, Michael Tomasello

Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
  2. Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.

PMID: 34038420 PMCID: PMC8153413 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251228

Abstract

As members of cultural groups, humans continually adhere to social norms and conventions. Researchers have hypothesized that even young children are motivated to act conventionally, but support for this hypothesis has been indirect and open to other interpretations. To further test this hypothesis, we invited 3.5-year-old children (N = 104) to help set up items for a tea party. Children first indicated which items they preferred but then heard an informant (either an adult or another child) endorse other items in terms of either conventional norms or personal preferences. Children conformed (i.e., overrode their own preference to follow the endorsement) more when the endorsements were framed as norms than when they were framed as preferences, and this was the case whether the informant was an adult or another child. The priority of norms even when stated by another child opposes the interpretation that children only conformed in deference to adult authority. These findings suggest that children are motivated to act conventionally, possibly as an adaptation for living in cultural groups.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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