RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: This study tested the effect of personal values (motivation) and sustained attention (cognitive ability) on children's helping behavior. METHOD: Children (N = 162, age range 8-9 years, mean = 8.81, SD = 0.43) completed value ranking and go/no-go tasks, and their helping behavior was examined. RESULTS: Children who valued self-transcendence over self-enhancement helped more than others. Surprisingly, children's lack of sustained attention was associated with more helping among those who valued self-transcendence over self-enhancement or openness-to-change over conservation values. Valuing both self-transcendence and openness-to-change was also associated with more helping. CONCLUSIONS: Children are more likely to help others if they value self-transcendence and openness to change. Notably, children's tendency to act upon these values may be facilitated (rather than obstructed by) low attention skills.
Asunto(s)
Conducta de Ayuda , Motivación , Humanos , Niño , Atención , Conducta InfantilRESUMEN
Pretend play is a ubiquitous learning tool in early childhood, enabling children to explore possibilities outside of their current reality. Here, we demonstrate how pretend play can be leveraged to empower girls in scientific domains. American children ages 4 to 7 years (N = 240) played a challenging science activity in one of three conditions. Children in the exposure condition heard about a successful gender-matched scientist, children in the roleplay condition pretended to be that scientist, and children in the baseline condition did not receive information about the scientist. Girls in the roleplay condition, but not in the exposure condition, persisted longer in the science activity than girls in the baseline condition. Pretending to be the scientist equated girls' persistence to that of boys. These findings suggest that pretend play of role models motivates young girls in science and may help reduce gender gaps from their roots.