Will power serve for oneself or others? An exploratory study toward 6- to 9-year-old Chinese children

IF 2.8 4区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL

Infant and Child Development Pub Date : 2024-10-02 DOI:10.1002/icd.2546

Xiumei Yan, Shumin Duan, Qinge Liang, Yuling Yang

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Abstract

This study investigated Chinese children's perspectives on the use of power and the prediction of these perspectives on their resource allocation. The sample included a total of 145 children from two primary schools in Mainland China (68 males, 77 females), with 70 in the younger group (M _age = 6.89, SD = 0.37, ranging from 6.08 to 7.67 years) and 75 in the older group (M _age = 9.03, SD = 0.55, ranging from 8.08 to 9.92 years). To explore the power perspective of children, they were presented a character who was ‘in charge’ and used his/her power to serve themselves or others. The results showed that children aged 6–9 years were more inclined to approve ‘bosses’ who used power for others' benefit, indicating children's support for benevolent power use, especially among 8–9-year-olds. Additionally, the study revealed that children who approved of benevolent power use tended to allocate more resources to others when possessing power, a behaviour not observed in 6–7-year-olds. This finding, more or less, indicated a correlation between children's perspectives on the use of power and their behaviour in allocating resources. These results demonstrate the importance of promoting a rational understanding of power use among children.

Highlights

All children held the benevolent perspective of power use, which agreed that those in power should use power to serve others.
Children aged 8–9 were more inclined to think a ‘boss’ should prioritize the interests of others over their own.
Children aged 8–9 who supported the benevolent perspective of power use allocate more resources to others.

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权力是为自己服务还是为他人服务？针对6 ~ 9岁中国儿童的探索性研究

本研究考察了中国儿童的权力使用观及其对资源配置的预测。样本共包括中国大陆两所小学的145名儿童（男68名，女77名），其中低年级组70名（M年龄= 6.89,SD = 0.37，范围为6.08 ~ 7.67岁），高年级组75名（M年龄= 9.03,SD = 0.55，范围为8.08 ~ 9.92岁）。为了探索孩子们的权力视角，他们呈现了一个“负责”的角色，并使用他/她的权力为自己或他人服务。结果显示，6-9岁的儿童更倾向于认可使用权力为他人谋利的“老板”，这表明儿童（尤其是8 - 9岁的儿童）支持善意的权力使用。此外，研究还显示，赞成善意使用权力的儿童在拥有权力时倾向于将更多资源分配给他人，而这种行为在6 - 7岁的儿童中没有观察到。这一发现或多或少表明，儿童对权力使用的看法与他们分配资源的行为之间存在相关性。这些结果表明了促进儿童对权力使用的理性理解的重要性。所有孩子都持仁慈的权力使用观点，认为当权者应该使用权力为他人服务。8-9岁的孩子更倾向于认为“老板”应该优先考虑他人的利益而不是自己的利益。8-9岁支持权力使用的仁慈观点的儿童将更多的资源分配给他人。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Infant and Child Development PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL-

CiteScore

2.90

自引率

9.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： Infant and Child Development publishes high quality empirical, theoretical and methodological papers addressing psychological development from the antenatal period through to adolescence. The journal brings together research on: - social and emotional development - perceptual and motor development - cognitive development - language development atypical development (including conduct problems, anxiety and depressive conditions, language impairments, autistic spectrum disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders)